comprehensive media reported that on the 25th, the People's Liberation Army military aircraft dispatched on a large scale and conducted exercises in the Taiwan Strait. From 6 am that day to 6 am the next morning, the island's defense department detected a total of 71 PLA military aircraft and 7 PLA warships. The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command also issued an announcement, saying that it was to counter the collusion between the United States and Taiwan, so this multi-service joint actual combat exercise was conducted in the waters surrounding Taiwan Island.
Regarding this incident, there is one thing that we need to know. On the 23rd, the US White House issued a statement that US President Biden has officially signed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2023. The U.S. defense spending for next year has been finalized to reach $857.9 billion, which is as much as $45 billion higher than Biden's own defense budget request. This extra portion alone is enough to rank among the top five military budgets in the world. But of course, what is actually used for the military is mainly the $816.7 billion allocated to the Department of Defense, and the remaining $41.2 billion is used for the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, Administration and other departments.
Of course, these are not important. After all, the high military expenditure of the United States is not news at all. What is really eye-catching is that it contains a large number of negative content against China, especially the content surrounding China's Taiwan issue, which has aroused heated public opinion. To briefly summarize, the bill contains more than 50 pages of Taiwan-related content. The most important one is to approve the United States to provide US$10 billion in military "aid" to Taiwan in the next five years, with a maximum of US$2 billion per year.
China’s Taiwan region needs military “assistance” from the United States? No matter from any angle, this is an act of interfering in China's internal affairs. Therefore, after the bill was proposed, China's three major institutions spoke out in unison within one day on the 24th. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiated representations to the United States on the matter; the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council told the United States that resolving the Taiwan issue is China's own business and must be decided by the Chinese people; the spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense urged the United States to abandon its obsession with zero-sum games , view China's national defense and military construction objectively and rationally, and truly respect China's core interests and major concerns.
Let’s talk about the matter. In fact, judging from the relevant content of this bill, the Taiwan-related content of this bill has obviously interfered with China’s internal affairs, and it must be supported by the Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party authorities. However, upon closer analysis, you will find that this bill is very interesting. First of all, US$10 billion seems like a lot, but it will be used for military purposes over five years. In fact, in this way, the Taiwan authorities will not get much money. You must know that the Taiwan authorities have finalized next year’s defense budget of NT$586.3 billion, which is approximately US$19 billion. The United States can only increase US$2 billion a year, which will not cause qualitative changes. Moreover, this aid from the United States is also very impressive. It is understood that although the U.S. government euphemistically calls it "aid," it is actually a military loan, and the Taiwan authorities will return the capital to the U.S. government with interest in the future. Furthermore, there is no problem for the Taiwan authorities to take this money, but two conditions must be met. First, at least 85% of it must be used in the United States; second, Taiwan’s defense budget must also be increased.
As the saying goes, "The wool comes from the sheep," the U.S. government behaves like a "profiteer" toward the Taiwan authorities. It uses seemingly military assistance to further suck the blood of the Taiwan authorities and let them purchase American weapons and equipment.
However, although the United States has cheated the Taiwan authorities, it does not mean that this matter can be laughed off, because this matter has several negative effects:
First, the bill provides financial support to the Taiwan authorities in the form of so-called "aid". Among the defense bills in the past years, the United States has crossed the line most seriously on China's Taiwan issue;
Second, through this method, the United States has directly promoted the increase in the defense budget of the Taiwan authorities and expanded the scale of arms sales to Taiwan. In fact, it has given Taiwan authorities support in their fight against mainland China.
Therefore, the US defense bill is equivalent to opening a big hole. It is likely to gradually expand the scale of arms sales to Taiwan in the future, which is obviously a violation of the one-China principle and " Therefore, within 24 hours after the bill was made public, China's three major departments spoke out, and within 48 hours, the People's Liberation Army held a large-scale military exercise, that is, the 71 military aircraft and 7 sub-warships we just mentioned were dispatched, so the signal of this exercise is undoubtedly very strong.
Taiwan was also shocked by this incident. For example, some Taiwanese media said with great amazement that "Christmas is coming too"? Obviously, the Taiwan authorities, based on the mainland's consistent behavior in the past, believed that the mainland would not make big moves in the Taiwan Strait at Christmas time, but their judgment was wrong. Not only that, the 71 military aircraft sorties are also the largest dispatch of the People's Liberation Army in the Taiwan Strait this year known to Taiwanese media. 47 of them crossed the so-called "central line of the strait". This is second only to the number of military aircraft of the People's Liberation Army that crossed the so-called "central line of the strait" on August 5, which was the day after the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Pelosi fled to Taiwan. It is conceivable that the Taiwan authorities are probably very worried about this matter.
But in fact, the more tense days for the Taiwan authorities may still be ahead. Why? First of all, with regard to the U.S. defense bill, the island actually saw the true intentions of the United States and found that the United States was just using the name of "aid" to encourage the Taiwan authorities to expand the defense budget and purchase more equipment from the United States. Therefore, the controversy over this matter on the island is also very loud. For example, Zhang Yazhong, a member of the Chinese Kuomintang and the president of Taiwan's "Sunwen School" , said bluntly that "there is no free lunch" and criticized Taiwan under the rule of the DPP authorities for having begun to lose its shape. The DPP authorities do whatever the United States says without any subjective consciousness of their own. In addition, a large number of scholars and media people on the island have pointed out that the "free military aid" provided by the US to Taiwan has been turned into a "loan", proving that the United States is no longer reliable.
This illustrates a problem from the side. The US authorities in Taiwan may have begun to kill the goose that lays the goose to lay eggs. It passed a bill to intensify the situation across the Taiwan Strait and at the same time semi-forced the Taiwan authorities to expand the purchase of weapons from the United States. It wants to drain Taiwan dry. When Taiwan's wealth is almost squeezed, the United States may kick it away. It's ridiculous that the Taiwan authorities still don't understand the essential difference between Taiwan and Ukraine, and actually imagine that the United States will provide "free assistance" to them like it did to Ukraine. While the United States continues to ignite the situation in the Taiwan Strait, China does not rule out escalating its actions in the Taiwan Strait accordingly in order to safeguard the integrity of its territorial sovereignty. As the " Global Times " editorial said, the theater troops will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Therefore, the escalation of the situation across the Taiwan Strait will only make the Taiwan authorities more and more nervous in the future. For this, the Democratic Progressive Party authorities, who blindly flatter the United States, and the large number of "Taiwan independence" elements on the island, bear the primary responsibility.
