Beijing Condemns Taiwan's Defence Budget Hike as Threat to Public Welfare
Mainland spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian criticised Taiwan's 2027 defence budget, saying it crowds out social welfare and endangers the island's people.
A mainland spokeswoman on Wednesday strongly condemned the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in Taiwan over a significant increase in the island's defence budget for the coming year.
Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks during a press briefing in Beijing in response to a question about the island's military spending plans.
According to media reports in Taiwan, the defence budget and a special budget for 2027 have been approved and will account for nearly 4 percent of the island's GDP. The reports also noted that Hsiao Bi-khim recently reiterated Lai Ching-te's pledge to raise defence expenditure to 5 percent of GDP.
Zhu said the DPP authorities are attempting to "seek separatism by forces and by relying on the United States," and are increasingly squandering the hard-earned money of the people in Taiwan as they race down the misguided path of military build-up.
She warned that this not only crowds out spending on people's livelihoods and social welfare across the island, harming the vital interests of the people in Taiwan, but also pushes Taiwan step by step into a more dangerous situation, turning the people in Taiwan into cannon fodder for the separatist forces.
Such actions that harm and ruin Taiwan and court self-destruction will surely be met with strong opposition from the public in Taiwan, she added.