Payoshi Bisht, Pune
President Tsai Ing-wen announced on Thursday that Taiwan plans to invest approximately 3 billion dollars in weapons, machinery, and armor, including fighter jets. All these investments will be executed in order to strengthen Taiwan’s defense against China. The government plans to get hold of the latest F-16 Fighter Jet tracking system to strengthen it.
Relations between Taiwan and China have been strained for a long time now due to China viewing Taiwan as its own territory rather than a separate nation. In response to the steps taken by Taiwan, China has amplified its military and political power and increased the pressure on Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan, to further strengthen its assertions.
This has been refuted by Taiwan for a long time and has further strained relations between the two countries. The President released a statement prior to the investment on Monday, 21st August about setting the cost for the expenditure at a whopping $606.8 billion which is a 3.5% increase in investment than the previous year.
As for the planning around the expenses, nearly half of the total investment would be utilized in purchasing and acquiring powerful fighter jets, whereas the rest of the investment would be utilized in strengthening naval defenses, as per the reports by the government’s statistics department after a cabinet meeting held for the discussion of the budget.
In support of Taiwan’s decision, the US also issued a statement approving a possible sale of 500 million dollars for infrared search and track systems for F-16 fighter jets as well as other equipment.
“ These will help to target the J-20 stealth fighter over the Taiwan Strait in the future,” Po said, referring to the new generation of Chinese jets. It will allow Taiwan to defend itself more effectively and combat Chinese air activity, he added.
In response to the support offered by the US, China urged an immediate withdrawal of the sales plans, its foreign ministry said.