Upcoming elections in Taiwan, with lawmakers keen to appear firm on defence, nudged parliament to pass the most extensive arms budget in years, including funds to produce a missile that can strike China.
Analysts say legislative elections in January and a presidential poll in March are shaping up as a contest over a Taiwan identity separate from rival China, which has claimed sovereignty over the island since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
Beijing has said formal independence could result in war. Last week's passage of a robust arms budget was necessary for the opposition Nationalist Party (KMT) to demonstrate to voters it is ready to retake power, according to Lin Cheng-yi, a research fellow at the state-funded Academia Sinica in Taipei.
"They need to indicate to the people of Taiwan they are still responsible on national defence, but it is a pity they take so long until the last minute to pass the defence budget they tried to obstruct for so many years," said Lin, a security expert.
The KMT of late strongman ruler Chiang Kai-shek ruled Taiwan from 1949 until 2000 and the party, which prefers closer ties with Beijing, regards the upcoming polls as a crucial chance to win back power. The party, which holds a majority in the legislature, has been accused by the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government of President Chen Shui-bian of blocking legislation to try to weaken Chen's defiantly anti-China platform.
The DPP has previously sought to stir Taiwan nationalism and provoke tensions with China over the independence issue, in an attempt to boost its support at the ballot box. The 2008 defence budget, passed by the legislature last Thursday, includes funds for the controversial Hsiung Feng IIE cruise missile.
The KMT initially threatened to slash the budget for the Hsiung Feng missiles but eventually passed one third of the T$3.84 billion (US $118 million) sought for 2008, and froze the rest. The missile, early versions of which have already been built, is being domestically developed and is believed to have a range of about 600 km (400 miles), making it capable of striking cities as far away as Shanghai.
POLITICAL MOVE: Other funds approved included T$21.9 billion towards buying four sets of the Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile system to counter the threat of China's estimated 1,000 short-range missiles aimed at the island and T$7.4 billion for 30 Apache AH-64D II Apache Longbow helicopters.
KMT lawmakers have long blocked arms budgets saying they were provocative and expensive, while the DPP has endeavoured to boost Taiwan's military deterrent by investing in counter-strike weapons as it has watched China build its military power.
The defence ministry seeks T$34.6 billion over eight years to produce 245 Hsiung Feng IIEs, which, although still under development by the military-run Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology, is believed to have been successfully test fired.
The KMT limited funding for the project in 2008 to keep the potentially destabilising weapon from reaching fruition during the final months of Chen's administration, analysts say. "This was purely political consideration," said Lan Ning-li, a retired Taiwan vice admiral.
"The United States and the KMT don't have confidence in the DPP government and can't predict what their next action will be so it's very dangerous if they have the offensive weapon." "Maybe they could use the weapon to provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait."
Movement on the defence budget will also likely please Washington, Taiwan's main arms supplier, which in recent years has urged parliament to approve robust defence spending. Failure to do so, combined with President Chen's plan to hold a referendum on the island's entry to the United Nations, has strained ties and lead some in the Bush administration to question Taipei's commitment to its own defence.
"The cross-party consensus will demonstrate Taiwan's resolve in defending itself and clear up doubts in Washington," said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies in Taipei.
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