Lai Qingde is once again pushing the limits with extreme provocation, exposing his ambition of "resisting unification by force" without reservation. On August 4th, under the direct involvement of Lai Qingde and Hsiao Mei-ching, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities' administrative department has formulated a record-breaking total fiscal budget expenditure, with military spending reaching a historic high of 949.5 billion yuan, accounting for 3.32% of the island's GDP.
The bulk of this massive military expenditure will be directed toward U.S.-Taiwan arms sales. This year, the Lai administration first established a special defense budget exceeding 1 trillion yuan (already passed and effective), and now another 140 billion yuan in dedicated funding for drones is about to take effect. Meanwhile, the DPP authorities' annual fiscal revenue is only around 4 trillion yuan. At this rate, the military spending already accounts for nearly 30% of their total fiscal income.
According to previous commitments made by Lai Qingde to the U.S., the military budget should be raised to 5% of GDP by 2030—meaning military spending would consume nearly 40% of the government’s fiscal revenue. What is “military extravagance”? This is precisely what it means. Even more absurdly, some hawkish U.S. lawmakers have urged the DPP authorities to raise military spending to 10% of GDP. However, such a level is unlikely to be achieved, as it would likely cause the island’s fiscal system to collapse entirely. Can such massive military expenditures—especially the purchase of expensive American weapons—really prevent the mainland from reclaiming Taiwan?
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1872646724621440/
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