On Wednesday, September 11, Chen Binhua, spokesperson for China\u2019s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), asserted that Taiwan does not require a national defence budget, claiming that the island is part of China. This statement ignited a swift reaction from Taiwan\u2019s political figures, highlighting the ongoing tensions across the Taiwan Strait.<\/p>\n
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chu-yin responded on Thursday by accusing the TAO of attempting to coerce Taiwan into abandoning its defence budget. Lin expressed concerns that some international democratic partners might question Taiwan\u2019s commitment to its sovereignty, as reported by CNA. She emphasised that the increased defence budget is intended to deter potential Chinese aggression, bolster Taiwan\u2019s capabilities in asymmetric warfare, and improve the training and conditions of its military personnel. Lin likened Taiwan\u2019s enhanced defence measures to a family reinforcing their home security in response to repeated break-ins.<\/p>\n
DPP caucus leader Rosalia Wu criticised the TAO\u2019s press conference as an interference in the forthcoming legislative session concerning Taiwan\u2019s defence budget. Wu also took issue with former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je\u2019s interview with Nikkei Asia, labelling his comments questioning Taiwan\u2019s ability to produce domestically designed submarines as irresponsible. Wu further pointed to TAO\u2019s remarks regarding Ko\u2019s ongoing investigation as indicative of Chinese interference in Taiwan\u2019s internal matters.<\/p>\n
When questioned about Ko\u2019s legal case, Chen Binhua alleged that President Lai-ching Te was misusing Taiwan\u2019s legal system to target those opposed to independence. This assertion further reflects the contentious nature of cross-strait relations and the intense scrutiny surrounding Taiwan\u2019s defence policies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DPP caucus leader Rosalia Wu criticised the TAO\u2019s press conference as an interference in the forthcoming legislative session concerning Taiwan\u2019s defence budget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":36814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[3965,21426,5838,21442,21441,3963,21440],"class_list":["post-36812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-taiwan","tag-chen-binhua","tag-cna","tag-democratic-progressive-party-dpp","tag-lin-chu-yin","tag-rosalia-wu","tag-taiwan-affairs-office","tag-tao"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/387"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36812"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36818,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36812\/revisions\/36818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}