Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has announced plans to increase Taipei’s defense budget by 4.6% next year, in what would be the island's seventh consecutive year of growth in military spending.
If approved by the parliament, the overall defense budget would stand at $19 billion, which amounts to 2.5 % of Taiwan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
When proposing the hike in the island’s military spending, Tsai said in a statement that "Taiwan must continue to strengthen its self-defense capabilities, demonstrate its determination for self-defense, ensure its national security and interests, and seek more international support."
The statement came a few days after the Chinese air force and navy conducted joint patrols and exercises around Taiwan. According to Shi Yi, the spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), the military practiced coordinating maneuvers of vessels and aircraft and intercepting control communications, in addition to testing real combat capabilities during joint operations.
"This is a serious warning to the separatist forces of the island colluding with foreign forces for the purpose of provocation," Shi pointed out.
This followed Taiwanese Vice President and presidential candidate Lai Ching-te wrapping his trip to Paraguay, during which he made transit stops in New York and San Francisco, something that was condemned by Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, for his part, promised that his country would focus on "peaceful development of relations on both sides of the Taiwan Strait" and would resist outside interference and separatism. He previously assured that Beijing "firmly adheres to an independent and peaceful foreign policy."
Tensions around Taiwan escalated after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island in early August 2022. Beijing condemned the trip, calling it a gesture of support for separatism, and held large-scale military exercises near Taiwan in a retaliatory move.