Taiwan’s leader pledged $40 billion in additional defense spending in an effort to deter Beijing, ramping up tensions with China as the superpower is locked in a row with regional rival Japan.
Writing in The Washington Post, Lai Ching-te argued that “Beijing’s willingness to alter the status quo by force has become increasingly evident,” necessitating what he called “the largest sustained military investment in Taiwan’s modern history.”
China regards Taiwan as a renegade province, and recent remarks by Japan’s leader that Tokyo could intervene militarily if Beijing sought to invade have drastically ramped up tensions between the East Asian countries, with China increasingly using the crisis to showcase its willingness to punish countries that publicly side with Taiwan.
