US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld warned yesterday that China is spending considerably more on a major military buildup than officially acknowledged and asked why it had so many missiles aimed at Taiwan.
A Pentagon study due to be released later this month concludes that China's defense budget is now the largest in Asia and third largest in the world, he said.
"Since no nation threatens China, one wonders: why this growing investment?" Rumsfeld said. "Why these continuing large weapons purchases?"
He delivered the warning, one of the bluntest yet by a senior US official, to an audience of Asian defense ministers and military experts at a gathering hosted by the International Institute of Strategic Studies in Singapore.
During a question and answer session, a Chinese foreign ministry official asked if Rumsfeld really believed China faced no threat and if the US felt threatened by China.
"I don't know of nations that threaten China," Rumsfeld said, adding: "No, we don't feel threatened by the emergence of China. It strikes me that the emergence of China is perfectly understandable."
"If everyone is agreed that the situation between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan is going to be resolved in a peaceful way then one has to ask why this significant increase in ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan," he said.
Rumsfeld said escalating military budgets in the region "are matters that should be of concern," pointing to rivalries that endure despite the end of the Cold War.
"China appears to be expanding its missile forces, allowing them to reach targets in many areas of the world while also expanding its missile capabilities within this region," he said.
"China also is improving its ability to project power, and is developing advanced systems of military technology," he said.
But facing an audience anxious about a possible US-China confrontation in Asia, Rumsfeld toned down parts of his prepared speech and insisted the US sought neither to destabilize China nor fan a competition for regional influence.
One line dropped from his prepared text said: "One might be concerned that this buildup is putting the delicate military balance in the region at risk -- especially, but not only, with respect to Taiwan."
China earlier this year announced a 12.6 percent increase in military spending to 244.65 billion yuan (US$ 29.5 billion).
Rumsfeld said political freedom has not followed economic growth in China, creating uncertainties for the future.
"Ultimately, China likely will need to embrace some form of open, representative government if it is to fully achieve the benefits to which its people aspire," he said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
RSS