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Taiwan, wary of China, to
hike military spending
AFP
Thursday Aug 22, 2007
Taiwan's cabinet
agreed Wednesday to hike military spending by nearly 15 percent
in next year's budget in an apparent signal of its resolve against
rival China.
Under a draft budget, which has to be confirmed by parliament,
the defence ministry is setting aside 345.9 billion Taiwan dollars
(10.5 billion US), up 44.6 billion Taiwan dollars, the cabinet
said in a statement.
The rise in spending is mainly aimed at financing procurement
of military equipment, including US-made P-3C submarine-hunting
aircraft.
Washington, the island's leading arms supplier despite not having
formal diplomatic ties, has repeatedly asked Taipei to display
its determination to defend itself by boosting military spending.
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The Chinese government had in May announced the biggest increase
in its military budget in recent years, saying its spending in
2007 would rise 17.8 percent from last year to 350.9 billion yuan
(about 45 billion dollars).
Reunification with Taiwan is one of China's long-term strategic
objectives, and analysts have said Beijing is beefing up its military
partly to enable it to take the island back by force if necessary.
China and Taiwan have been separated since the end of a civil
war in 1949, but Beijing still considers the island part of its
territory.
Taiwan has been led since the turn of the century by independence-leaning
President Chen Shui-bian, exacerbating fears in Beijing that the
island could break away for good.
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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