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Taipei (AFP): Taiwan President President Chen Shui-ban on Tuesday urged the European Union to maintain its arms embargo on China, saying Beijing's military buildup posed the biggest threat to regional peace. Chen also expressed concern over China's recent announcement of a 17.8 percent increase in military spending to about 45 billion US dollars this year, saying it surpassed the needs for self-defence.
China considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification and two years ago passed an anti-secession law authorising the use of military force against the island if it moved towards independence.
“China… openly rationalised and legalised violent and non-peaceful means (in dealing with Taiwan) … and this shows that China's military buildup and bullying dictatorship pose the greatest threat to all democratic societies in the Asia Pacific,” Chen said.
“Until Beijing improves human rights (protection) and renounces military threats against Taiwan, all countries including the EU should retain their arms embargo on China,” he told John Hamre, president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former US deputy defence secretary.
Washington remains Taiwan's main arms supplier and has pledged to protect the island despite switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
“Taiwan, the United States and China should jointly maintain peace, security and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Chen said without elaborating.
He said Taiwan lived under the daily threat of China's military buildup.
“In 2000 when I was first sworn in, China deployed about 200 ballistic missiles targeting Taiwan, but today the number of missiles has reached 988… Taiwanese people live in the threat of China's missiles everyday,” he said.
Tensions between Taiwan and China have escalated since the independence-leaning Chen was elected president in 2000. He was narrowly re-elected in 2004.
Chen pledged in his inaugural speech in 2000 that he would not declare independence nor change Taiwan's name or seek a referendum on independence.
Nevertheless, he has called for Taiwan to overhaul its constitution, which was enacted by the then ruling Kuomintang government in China in 1947 and has gone through seven amendments here since 1991.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 at the end of a civil war after KMT troops were defeated by communist forces and fled to the island.
