Taiwan Joins Global Arms-Buying Bandwagon, But Not All Are Aboard

Latest stories

Putin's India visit: strategic alignment in an age of sanctions

Another Trump Jr.-backed company receives massive Pentagon deal

What's the likelihood of a NATO-Russia non-aggression pact?

In this panorama, Taiwan would seem to be a minor addition. After all, Western European countries, especially those that border Russia, have begun increasing military spending in response to Vladimir Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Russia itself has increased its defense spending to $149 billion this year, a 36 percent increase over 2023 levels.

Washington's enormous defense budget, which had alternated between flat spending periods and spikes on occasion due to warfare, will reach $1 trillion in 2026.

East Asian democracies joined the arms race with gusto in response to a pair of worrying events:

• The Russian invasion of Ukraine revived the fear of pan-European conquest thought to have died in 1945; and
• China's growing might and threatening rhetoric produced similar concerns – and a rearmament boom.

Xi Jinping's role

Taiwan's central place in all this came with the arrival of Xi Jinping as China's latest leader for life. China had long insisted that Taiwan must someday join the mainland, but Xi added forceful threats in word and deed.

Under Xi, China's military spending has increased to about 150 percent of the country's Gross National Product, reaching $250 billion this year. Among the results was the creation of the world's largest navy and plans to increase in the size of its nuclear warhead arsenal from 600 to 1,000 by 2030.

Taiwan became a central focus of Xi's belligerency, and therefore of regional tensions. Xi has expressed increasing impatience with Taiwan's evident disinterest in unification and said such dawdling could not be passed down from generation to generation.

When Lai unveiled his defense plans, Beijing flexed its newly muscular threatening style. Zhang Han, spokesperson at China's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office described the move as self-defeating.“Buying weapons does not bring security; instead, it accelerates Taiwan's slide into danger,” she said.

Zhang added a jab at Taiwan's growing hope of getting aid from the United States.“For the sake of political self-interest, the Lai authorities bow and curry favor with external forces, pandering to the United States without principles and selling out Taiwan without limits,” Zhang said, adding that the US considers Taiwan“fatty meat” – a succulent Chinese dish – to be devoured by Washington.

Chinese CGTN state television quickly aired a depiction of what would be in store for Taiwan if it resisted the mainland. It broadcast army teams armed with rifles, machine guns and anti-tank projectiles in a live-fire drill. The troop stormed a mock up of a ruined city to“test multiple combat skills that are essential for urban offensive operations,” according to the report.

A NATO official said China is deploying about 100 naval and coast guard vessels across the China Seas and the Taiwan Strait and into the Pacific Ocean. The warships and attendant aircraft are carrying on practices that simulate“control over contested waters.”

Tsai Ming-yen, Taiwan's National Security Bureau director, said China is operating four naval formations in the area. It is“not unlikely” that China might consider combining drills like this into an actual attack on Taiwan., Tsai said.“We need to be prepared for possible enemy advancement,” he advised.