TAIPEI—Taiwan unveiled its largest defense spending increase in more than a decade on Aug. 15 amid rising military tensions with its giant neighbor China, which considers the self-ruled island its own.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s cabinet signed off on an 8.3 percent increase in military spending for the year starting January to T$411.3 billion ($13.11 billion), its largest yearly gain since 2008, according to Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
If approved by lawmakers, which is likely given the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) control of parliament, it will be the highest since records started in 2001, data from the statistics agency show. Tsai is also a DPP member.
Beijing considers Taiwan a renegade province that must be united with the mainland one day, with military force if necessary, despite the island having its own elected officials, constitution, military, and currency. In recent months, Beijing has escalated its rhetoric and conducted military exercises near Taiwan, in a show of muscle.
“To react to the enemy’s threat and to ensure national security, the defense budget continues to grow stably,” Taiwan’s defense ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said it will spend more to purchase advanced weapons from overseas and to build a fully volunteer force after decades of conscription.
China, which suspects Tsai of pushing for the island’s formal independence, has been ramping up military pressure on Taiwan, which includes encirclement drills around it and flying jets across a maritime border separating the two sides, a move Taipei called “provocative.”
