There are at least 1000 Chinese missiles aimed at Taiwan, and this continues to increase every year. With the passage of this defense bill, will Taiwan be better off?
After quite a number of years, the legislature of Taiwan has finally gotten their act together and voted for the passage of a much-needed military spending bill.
Passed last June 15, it paves the way for the release of almost $296 million to purchase arms packages from the United States. This figure however, large as it may be, still falls a long way short of the $18 billion proposed by the U.S. as necessary for the satisfactory defense of Taiwan from external threats. Among the approved purchases are 12 P-3 Orion antisubmarine aircraft and Patriot Advance Capability (PAC-2) missile defense systems. If anything, the latter item will help Taiwan significantly should the time come that neighboring China decides to launch the 1000 or so missiles currently aimed at them. There is however, a possibly contentious part with the bill: a clause which provides funding for the purchase of 66 F-6 fighter aircraft, which is meant primarily to replace Taiwan’s vintage fleet of F-5s. The problem here is that this purchase was conditional as to the passing of the entire package by Taiwan’s legislature; now that only a part of the arms package was approved, the U.S. will have to face a decision whether or not to go through with it. Fierce opposition to the inclusion of the fighter jets is expected to come from China, thus putting the U.S. in a difficult position.
The approved bill, which is essentially a watered-down version of the original, reflects the still-heavy dependence of Taiwan to the United States for its defense. Whereas Taiwan spends an average of $9.5 billion for defense spending, China spends more than ten times that. The issue of how long it took to pass is also a large factor: considering the bill deals with a highly important issue, defense, it’s a wonder why the Taiwanese legislature took their time passing it. The answer to this can be traced to presidential and party politics; first, it takes years for the executive branch to forward the proposed bill to the legislature, and upon reaching there, the bill faces even starker opposition from the Kuomintang (KMT) coalition for being overpriced and being representative of a provocation to mainland China.
One of the reasons the government and opposition have finally seen eye to eye on this matter is because of the presidential elections next year. With both candidates desperate to show the Taiwanese people that defense is a top-priority and that there would be no cottoning up to China, the bill could only be a step in the right direction. With the passage of this defense bill, the only thing left to be asked is whether or not this will usher in a new age of arms purchases towards the ultimate goal of bolstering the island’s defense.
