Taipei, June 17 (EFE).- Taiwan’s Defense Minister, Wellington Koo, assured this Monday that the island “has never sought a war” with China, whose authorities behave, in his opinion, like the real “troublemakers.” region of.
In statements prior to a parliamentary appearance, Koo stressed that the objective of the new Taiwanese president, William Lai (Lai Ching-te), is to create “multiple layers of deterrence” to avoid an armed conflict with China, which considers the island, autonomously governed since 1949, as a “rebellious province.”
“Our intention is to establish multiple layers of deterrence with a logic of asymmetric war, and permanently strengthen our self-defense capabilities,” the minister stated, adding that this strategy will allow “weaken” China’s invasion capacity.
The former secretary general of the National Security Council stressed that the “continuous military expansion” of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its “constant attempts to change the status quo” in the Taiwan Strait make the Asian giant the real “troublemaker.” of the area.
“Taiwan has never sought war. Our strategy is very clear: operate defensively and employ multiple layers of deterrence,” Koo said.
During his speech before legislators, the Minister of Defense announced that Taiwan will receive 1,700 TOW 2B anti-tank missiles and another 100 missile launch systems that it purchased from the United States before the end of the year.
The delivery of this material, whose value amounts to about 11.81 billion Taiwan dollars (364 million dollars, 341 million euros), was scheduled for 2022, but was delayed because the weapons did not pass US Army tests.
The TOW 2B missiles and launch systems were one of three major weapons packages Taiwan had purchased from the United States that had been delayed in recent years, along with 66 F-16V fighters and a suite of AGM air-to-ground missiles. -154.
In this sense, Koo stated that the US side will deliver two prototypes of the F-16V for flight testing in the fourth quarter of this year, and clarified that Taiwan will request that the 66 aircraft be delivered by the end of 2026.
The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives, Michael McCaul, assured on May 27, during a visit to Taipei, that the shipment of weapons to the island would be reactivated “as soon as possible.” thanks to the recent approval of a military aid package to Taiwan valued at 2 billion dollars (1.87 billion euros).
The Government of the Democratic Progressive Party (PDP) has increased its defense budget to a record of 600.7 billion Taiwan dollars (18.557 million dollars, 17.355 million euros) for this year in the face of growing threats from China, which has not ruled out use of force to achieve “reunification” with Taiwan. EFE
jacb/jco/ig
