Taiwan to boost defense spending to deter China’s military threat



Christian Shepherd
Taiwan to boost defense spending to deter China’s military threat. Photo collected.

Taiwan to boost defense spending to deter China’s military threat. Photo collected.

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Taiwan announced Thursday a record jump in defense spending for next year as the self-governing democracy eyes new fighter jets and anti-ship missiles to deter a Chinese military invasion.

The Executive Yuan, Taiwan’s cabinet, proposed a record 13.9 percent increase in defense spending. When including a special fund for military hardware purchases, the total will be about $19.4 billion, or 2.4 percent of projected gross domestic product. The announcement did not include details of specific expected purchases.

The rise from about 2.2 percent of GDP last year comes after China, which claims the islands of 23 million as part of its sovereign territory, escalated military exercises in retribution for visits to Taipei by U.S. lawmakers.

Beijing responded with live-fire drills and fury to a 19-hour stopover by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) this month, including shooting missiles into the waters around Taiwan’s main island for the first time since the 1990s.

Because Taiwan is in a period of needing to strengthen and upgrade its military hardware, there is likely to be a few years of double-digit growth in military spending before leveling off, said Wang Kun-Yih, president of the Taiwan International Strategic Study Society.

Taiwan’s current strategy to defend against Chinese threats means the main things it needs are new fighter jets, more missiles and larger warships — all of which are expensive. As such, the jump in defense spending is “directly related to China’s incessant military threats,” he said.

Faced with Chinese saber-rattling, some have called for Taiwan to raise defense spending further. During a July visit, former U.S. defense secretary Mark T. Esper suggested that Taipei match U.S. defense expenditure as a proportion of GDP at above 3 percent.

He also called on Taiwan’s military to purchase lightweight Javelin antitank and Stinger anti-air missile systems. This would allow for a defensive strategy of asymmetric warfare, with the emphasis on imposing steep costs on the Chinese military during a potential attack.

Taiwan has traditionally focused more on large-ticket conventional weaponry designed to repel an initial Chinese invasion. However, some analysts fear China’s rapid military buildup is making this strategy increasingly untenable. Beijing set its defense budget for the year at $211.6 billion in March.

Taiwan’s proposed defense budget will be formally adopted, with possible though usually minor alterations, after a vote by parliament in January. Recent Chinese drills make it much easier for the administration of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to pass the significant increase in spending, according to Yujen Kuo, president of the Institute for National Policy Research, a think tank.

Not only have Chinese drills increased operational costs for the Taiwanese military, they have spurred efforts to further asymmetric warfare strategies, the cornerstone of which is 1,000 Taiwanese-made, extended-range anti-ship missiles, including the Hsiung Feng III, he said.

Kuo added that it will be harder to maintain similarly high increases in spending starting next year as Taiwan enters campaign season ahead of the 2024 presidential election. “Military budget has no attraction to voters. It’s going to be difficult to keep increasing at this rate,” he said.

After four days of large-scale drills around Taiwan immediately after Pelosi’s visit, the Chinese air force has continued a high frequency of incursions deep into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone and often sends fighter jets briefly across the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which had for years been an unofficial maritime boundary.

On Wednesday, Taiwan verified images circulating on Chinese social media showing Taiwanese soldiers in camouflage looking up at a Chinese military drone this month and then throwing rocks as it apparently flew close over Kinmen, a Taiwan-controlled island just over 17 miles from the Chinese coast.

(Christian Shepherd is China correspondent for The Washington Post. He previously covered the country for the Financial Times and Reuters from Beijing.)

   

Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari passes away



International Desk, Barta24.com
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Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari died of a heart attack.

The 63-year-old politician died on Thursday (March 28) around 8:30 pm while undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Earlier, the jail authorities took him to the district's Rani Durgavati Medical College Hospital after he fainted in the jail last Tuesday. Later a team of nine doctors provided immediate medical attention to him. But, despite their best efforts, he died after 14 hours in the ICU.

Indian media NDTV reported that this 5-time MP from Uttar Pradesh has been in jail since 2005.

A large contingent of police was deployed outside the hospital soon after Ansari was taken to the hospital and prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been issued across Uttar Pradesh following his death, news agency PTI reported.

Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Prashant Kumar said additional policemen have been deployed in Banda, Mau, Ghazipur and Varanasi districts as well as Central Reserve Police Force.

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The ICJ ordered Israel to take steps to stop the famine in Gaza



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
ছবি: সংগৃহীত

ছবি: সংগৃহীত

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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to take necessary and effective measures to stop the spread of famine in the besieged Palestinian Gaza Strip.

On Thursday (March 28), the International Court of Justice unanimously gave the order to Israel. But Hamas leaders say a ceasefire is necessary to prevent a humanitarian crisis.

South Africa asked the court for new measures as part of a case accusing Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza. Later the court gave this order.

The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to take necessary and effective measures to ensure basic food supplies for the Palestinian population and to stop the spread of famine, Reuters reported. The order came as Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters battled around Gaza's Al Shifa hospital.

The people of Gaza are going to face worse conditions, the court judges said. The court observed that the people of Gaza are not only at risk of famine but that famine has already begun, the judges said in the order.

Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, said the verdict was not enough. Israel must be ordered to cease military attacks to end the suffering.

He added, "We welcome any new demands to end the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, especially in the northern Gaza Strip, but we hope that the court will order a ceasefire as a solution to the misery our people in Gaza are living through."

There was no immediate comment from Israel's Foreign Ministry on the International Court of Justice ruling.

The UN Security Council voted on Tuesday to demand an immediate ceasefire and the immediate unconditional release of all hostages. The United States abstained from voting, but did not veto.

 

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76 more killed in Gaza, death toll rises to nearly 32,500



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Even after the UN Security Council passed a cease-fire resolution, the Israeli barbaric attacks on the Palestinian-besieged Gaza have not stopped. Another 76 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the last 24 hours by Israeli attacks. The death toll has increased to about 32,500 people. The number of injured has reached about 75000 people.

Al-Jazeera reported this information in a live update on Thursday (March 28).

Quoting the Ministry of Health of Gaza, the report said that since last October, the number of dead in Palestine has reached 32490 in the Israeli barbaric attack in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, an emergency ceasefire resolution was passed in the besieged Gaza Strip. The resolution passed by the UN Security Council on Monday (March 25) calls for a cease-fire in Gaza as well as the immediate and unconditional release of hostages held by Hamas.

In this proposal, 14 countries of the Security Council voted in favor of the proposal. Israel's close ally, the United States, abstained from voting.

Welcoming the proposal, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, after a long wait, the Security Council has passed a resolution regarding the cease-fire in Gaza. This proposal must be implemented. Failure of any party to implement the ceasefire and its terms would constitute an unforgivable offence. 

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Israel wants to wipe out Palestinians: UN



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Gazans are going through one of the worst times in living memory. The lives of Palestinians are in danger due to the long-term killings and severe food shortages. The world is criticizing the surprise attack on the destitute Gazans. However, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu is unwilling to stop the attack. In this situation, the international organization, which could not find any solution after repeated efforts, said that Israel is going to wipe out the Palestinians.

On Monday (March 25), the special envoy for human rights in Palestine, Francesca Albanez, released her detailed report. She said that since the start of the attack, Israel has targeted Gazans. The Israeli forces assumed that these Gazans could be attacked, killed, or even destroyed. Israel's genocidal action has become clear through this. They are trying to erase Palestinians from Palestine.

The news agency AFP reported this information.

According to the report, Albanez attacked Israel in harsh language at the meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council. She said Israel destroyed Gaza. She also said, 'What is happening in Gaza shows the intention of genocide. We cannot turn away from it. We have to face it, we have to stop this genocide and action must be taken against those who took this step.''

Francesca Albanez is working as Special Envoy for Palestinian Human Rights. She told the United Nations Human Rights Council last Monday that the organization's member states should end arms embargoes against Israel and arms supplies to Israel.

Support for the UN expert panel, which has been working on allegations of genocide against Israel since the start of Israel's assault on Gaza, has been growing in Palestine. Various countries are now showing interest in investigating the allegations of genocide.

Ambassadors of different countries are supporting this report of Albanez. Ambassadors from Muslim and Arab countries, as well as Latin American countries, are among those supporting Albanez's report to hold Israel accountable.

Pakistan has supported this Albanez report on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The OIC has also called for an arms embargo on Israel. When Albanez presented the report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Pakistan's representative said, "We appreciate your courage in documenting the genocide in Gaza."

Accusations of genocide against Israel are intensifying as it continues to operate in Gaza's Rafah area in defiance of international calls. The Ministry of Health of Palestine said on Wednesday that 76 people were killed in the attack in the last 24 hours. With this, 32490 people have been killed in Israel's attacks since October 7.

The representative of Egypt, on behalf of the Arab countries, said they were deeply concerned about Israel's structural and systematic attack on the Gaza Strip, making it uninhabitable. Qatar represented the Gulf countries in the meeting. They want international action to stop the war that Israel is waging in Palestine. 

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