Taiwanese media: US arms sales to Taiwan are "urgent and fierce." Taiwan's military budget is tight and can only tighten its belts
[Global Network Reporter Kang Bohao] Naked interference in China's internal affairs!
The Security Cooperation Agency of the US Department of Defense approved a US$750 million arms sale to Taiwan on the 4th, marking the first time that Biden took office.
Taiwan’s “China Times” stated on the 6th that the arms sales were “urgent and fierce,” whether they were requested by the DPP authorities or the US proactively provided weapons and equipment to build Taiwan as a “military fortress”. "Taiwan wants what it wants," which has caused Taiwan's military budget to be tight, so it can only tighten its belts and reduce purchases.
According to reports, the Taiwan military originally expected to buy 100 M109A6 self-propelled guns, but considering the tight budget, it bought 40 first. It is still unknown whether the subsequent purchases will be made.
In the budget, the DPP authorities only set aside 17.2 billion yuan (the same below New Taiwan dollars), but according to the amount announced by the United States, it is about 20.8 billion yuan based on the current exchange rate. In terms of conversion, the number gap is even greater.
According to reports, in fact, the Taiwan Army’s budget for purchasing M1A2T tanks also encountered the same situation as the M109A6 self-propelled artillery.
The US announced that the amount was more than 60 billion yuan, but the DPP authorities’ budget was limited and only allocated more than 40.524.15 million yuan. The budget was very different. In the end, it had to adjust the purchase amount.
According to reports, the total amount of arms sales to Taiwan by the Trump administration in four years alone is equivalent to the equipment sold by the Obama administration in eight years.
Given the limited defense budget of the DPP authorities, "Taiwan-U.S." arms sales should "slow down and take a breath."
In this regard, Ma Wenjun, a legislator of the Kuomintang, said that the US arms sales to Taiwan seemed to force Taiwan to eat a package package, and it was not an item that Taiwan originally wanted to buy.
Ma Wenjun also criticized that Taiwanese people ate pigs (American pork with clenbuterol) and bought weapons. They bought them from the United States, which was discontinued. They were treated as "plates" every time.
Netizens on the island talked a lot about the US arms sales. Some people said, "Looking at Taiwanese money again"; some netizens think that the US move is "stepping up to empty Taiwan!!!" ↓
Some netizens sarcastically, "Taiwan ATM machines are spitting out money, please wait..." ↓
Some netizens bluntly said, "Give you 2.5 million Modena (vaccine) now to pay the bill, Taiwan plate ATM..." ↓
For August 4, the United States approved a plan to sell weapons worth about US$750 million to Taiwan. Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that we firmly oppose the US arms sales to China's Taiwan region. We urge the United States to strictly abide by the one-China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiqués, especially the provisions of the "August 17" communiqué, stop all arms sales to Taiwan, do not send the wrong signal to the separatist forces of "Taiwan independence", do not endanger the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, do not Harm the well-being of compatriots on both sides of the strait. The DPP authorities' attempts to "rely on the United States for independence" and "use force to resist reunification" will only push the people of Taiwan into disaster.