China Spent $15.3-B On Pacific War Drills In 2023: Taiwan

China spent about $15 billion, or 7% of its defense budget, on exercises in the Western Pacific in 2023, according to a previously unpublished Taiwanese estimate, showing Beijing's investment in military activity around Taiwan and its neighbors, Yimou Lee, Ben Blanchard, and Ryan Woo reported for Reuters.

China claims Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control despite Taiwan's strong objections. I Photo: 日本防衛省・統合幕僚監部

The internal research by Taiwan's armed forces, reviewed by Reuters, offers a rare look into a slice of China's defense spending as Beijing has ramped up its military presence amid rising tensions in the region.

China claims Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control despite Taiwan's strong objections. China has never administered Taiwan.

It is also locked in disputes with several countries over the sovereignty of large parts of the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

"This reveals the logic of allocation of their resources," said a senior Taiwan official briefed on the research.

"They are spending a huge amount of resources trying to gain control of the west of the First Island Chain."

The official and two other people briefed on the research declined to be identified for this story because of the sensitivity of the matter. The First Island Chain is a collection of archipelagos running roughly from Indonesia in an arc northeast to Japan, encompassing the South China Sea and East China Sea.