Taiwan Sharply Boosts Defense Budget Amid China Tensions

Taiwan Sharply Boosts Defense Budget Amid China Tensions
Military honor guards attend a flag-raising ceremony at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, in Taipei, Taiwan on March 16, 2018. Tyrone Siu/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

TAIPEI—Taiwan unveiled its largest defense spending increase in more than a decade on Aug. 15 amid rising military tensions with its giant neighbor China, which considers the self-ruled island its own.

President Tsai Ing-wen’s cabinet signed off on an 8.3 percent increase in military spending for the year starting January to T$411.3 billion ($13.11 billion), its largest yearly gain since 2008, according to Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.