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Taiwan Defence Minister Urges Military Buildup Against China
Taipei (AFP) March 12, 2007 Taiwan's defense minister said Monday the island needed to buy more advanced weaponry to counter the threat from rival China's rapid military buildup. "The (China) military expansion has enabled Taiwan to gradually lose its air and naval superiority and posed a serious threat to Taiwan," Lee Jye was quoted by the state-financed Central News Agency as saying. China will spend 350.9 billion yuan (about 45 billion US) on its military might in 2007, a rise of 17.8 percent from the previous year, Lee said in his report to parliament's defense committee. China considers Taiwan a part of its territory and has repeatedly threatened to invade the island should it declare formal independence. Lee said China has stockpiled more than 900 ballistic and cruise missiles aimed at the island, with the number increasing at a rate of 75-100 per year. China has also operated 20-odd military, surveillance and communications satellites, giving the People's Liberation Army the ability to keep a close eye on movement in the Taiwan Strait, he said. The White House has expressed concern about China's hike in military spending, warning it was "inconsistent" with Beijing's policy of peaceful development. Lee said Taiwan has failed to respond to the looming threat because of delays over a 10-billion-dollar arms package for the island, which includes eight conventional submarines and 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft. "The military balance between the two sides would further tip against Taiwan if there is no major breakthrough in the arms deal," he said. Taiwan's parliament in December last year finally passed a bill allowing one of its committees to review the controversial arms package after it was blocked by the opposition 70 times. To ease protests from the opposition, the ministry has scaled down the package from the original 16 billion dollars. Some opposition lawmakers say Taiwan cannot afford the arms, while others say they would be delivered too slowly to enable the island to keep pace with China's military build-up. Tensions between Taiwan and China have escalated since the independence-leaning Chen Shui-bian was elected president in 2000. He was narrowly re-elected in 2004.
earlier related report The drill is scheduled for May 15 on a freeway section in central Changhua county, the Chinese-language China Times said, citing freeway administration authorities. Blocs separating the freeway lanes would be removed and traffic interrupted for hours during the drill, which would cost at least 20 million Taiwan dollars (607,900 US), it said. "This has been under evaluation," defense ministry spokesman Major-General Wu Chi-fang told AFP. But he said the drill, part of this year's "Han Kuang Exercise", would be decided by Defense Minister Lee Jye "after mid-April". If approved, it would be only the second time Taiwan has staged such a landing drill. A similar drill was held in July 2004, when two French-made Mirage 2000-5 fighters landed in southern Taiwan to review the air force's capability of using freeways for emergency landings and logistic support, in case of war. Analysts warn Taiwan's airbases, harbours, military commands and communications facilities could be wiped out in intensive missile bombings by China should war break out in the Taiwan Strait. Tensions across the strait rose after Taiwan's independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian pledged to push for independence and a new constitution last week. Chen told the overseas pro-independence group Formosan Association for Public Affairs: "I want to say this again, 'four wants, one no'. That is, Taiwan wants independence, Taiwan wants to change its name, Taiwan wants a new constitution, Taiwan wants development. "There is no such problem as left and right in the path of development, but there is only the problem of independence and reunification," Chen said. Chen's comments appeared to mark a shift in policy and raised concerns in Beijing. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. Chen had pledged in his inaugural speech in 2000 that he would not declare independence, change Taiwan's name or seek a referendum on independence. Cross-strait tensions have increased since Chen, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, won the presidency in 2000, ending the Kuomintang's 51-year grip on power. He was re-elected in 2004.
Source: Agence France-Presse Email This Article
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Beijing (AFP) March 7, 2007China this year is backing off of annual targets for energy savings and pollution cuts that it missed in 2006 but will stick to its longer-term 2010 goals, its top economic planner said Wednesday. Ma Kai, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said China would no longer try to reduce energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by four percent and output of major pollutants by two percent each year. |
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