The Legislative Yuan on Nov. 23 approved a bill authorizing the government to draft a special budget of up to NT$240 billion (US$8.66 billion) for arms procurements through the end of 2026.
The law allows the government to tap into a special budget to fund increased production of a range of important indigenous military armaments, including Hsiung Feng III (“Brave Wind”) supersonic anti-ship missiles, Tien Kung (“Sky Bow”) air-defense missiles and the Hsiung Feng IIE cruise missile, which possesses a medium-range ground attack capability.
The government’s 2026 target to reinforce and re-equip Taiwan’s military dovetails neatly with an assessment made in March by US Navy Admiral Philip Davidson, who was commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command from May 2018 to April, that Taiwan could face an attack by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) within the next six years, or before 2027.
That year — 2027 — happens to mark the 100th anniversary of the PLA’s founding. There are two other anniversaries of significance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP): This year, which marks the 100th anniversary of the CCP’s founding, is when Chinese officials consistently said they would achieve a “moderately prosperous” society, and 2049, which would mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, by when the party plans to have turned China into a “powerful modern socialist country.”
These two major milestones are abbreviated as the “two 100s” by the party, but there is now one more. To realize Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “dream of strong armed forces,” the party at the end of last year announced the goal of achieving a “comprehensive improvement of training and war preparations, and improve the military’s strategic ability to safeguard China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.”
The year set to achieve the goal is the 100th anniversary of the PLA’s founding, or 2027. In other words, the “two 100s” has been expanded to the “three 100s.”
Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s (鄧小平) policy of covertly building up China’s strength — tao guang yang hui (韜光養晦, “keep one’s sword sheathed during daylight hours and hone one’s skills after dark”) — has been supplanted by Xi’s overt approach: ostentatious displays of military might and “wolf warrior” diplomacy.
The government’s decision to set aside a special defense budget at this moment is clearly a response not only to Beijing’s hue and cry, but also Washington’s stark warnings. Increasing defense spending and upgrading military hardware demonstrates to regional allies that Taiwan has the resolve to defend itself, and raises Beijing’s cost calculus for an attack on Taiwan. The budget raises vigilance and functions as a deterrent.
Huang Wei-ping is a former think tank researcher.
Translated by Edward Jones
It is almost three years since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a friendship with “no limits” — weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, they have retreated from such rhetorical enthusiasm. The “no limits” language was quickly dumped, probably at Beijing’s behest. When Putin visited China in May last year, he said that he and his counterpart were “as close as brothers.” Xi more coolly called the Russian president “a good friend and a good neighbor.” China has conspicuously not reciprocated Putin’s description of it as an ally. Yet the partnership
The ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu (孫子) said “know yourself and know your enemy and you will win a hundred battles.” Applied in our times, Taiwanese should know themselves and know the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) so that Taiwan will win a hundred battles and hopefully, deter the CCP. Taiwanese receive information daily about the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) threat from the Ministry of National Defense and news sources. One area that needs better understanding is which forces would the People’s Republic of China (PRC) use to impose martial law and what would be the consequences for living under PRC
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said that he expects this year to be a year of “peace.” However, this is ironic given the actions of some KMT legislators and politicians. To push forward several amendments, they went against the principles of legislation such as substantive deliberation, and even tried to remove obstacles with violence during the third readings of the bills. Chu says that the KMT represents the public interest, accusing President William Lai (賴清德) and the Democratic Progressive Party of fighting against the opposition. After pushing through the amendments, the KMT caucus demanded that Legislative Speaker
Although former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo — known for being the most pro-Taiwan official to hold the post — is not in the second administration of US president-elect Donald Trump, he has maintained close ties with the former president and involved himself in think tank activities, giving him firsthand knowledge of the US’ national strategy. On Monday, Pompeo visited Taiwan for the fourth time, attending a Formosa Republican Association’s forum titled “Towards Permanent World Peace: The Shared Mission of the US and Taiwan.” At the event, he reaffirmed his belief in Taiwan’s democracy, liberty, human rights and independence, highlighting a
RSS