Taiwan announced on Thursday August 25 that it is planning an increase in its military budget, which will reach an unprecedented level, in a context of heightened tensions with China, which this month carried out unprecedented military maneuvers off the coast of the United States. 'island.
Taipei has proposed a new military budget of 415.1 billion Taiwan dollars (13.7 billion euros) for next year, an increase of 13% compared to last year.
This record sum must be approved by Parliament.
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A special budget will also be allocated in particular to the acquisition of fighter planes, said the body in charge of budgets, in a press release.
"
In order to safeguard national security, the overall defense budget for next year will reach Tw586.3 billion, a record high
," a spokesperson said, quoting Premier Su Tseng-chang.
China's massive military maneuvers this month - following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei - have raised tensions in the Taiwan Strait to their highest point. high level for years, heightening fears that Beijing will use force to seize control of the island it considers its own.
The noise of Beijing's boots intensified under President Xi Jinping, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine proved that verbal threats from a neighboring authoritarian power could become concrete.
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Taipei remains vastly outnumbered vis-à-vis Beijing, with 88,000 ground forces against one million for China, according to Pentagon estimates.
The territory has modernized its aging fighter fleet in recent years amid growing fears of military action by China and continued pressure from more frequent Chinese incursions into its Air Defense Identification Zone (Adiz). .
Last year, Taiwan recorded around 950 incursions by Chinese warplanes into its air defense zone, according to a database compiled by AFP, more than double the roughly 380 in 2020.