Taiwan unveiled its largest defense spending increase in more than a decade on Thursday amid rising military tensions with China.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s cabinet signed off on an 8.3 percent increase in military spending for the year starting January to $13.11 billion, its largest yearly gain since 2008, Reuters said.
If approved by lawmakers, it will be the highest since records started in 2001, data from the statistics agency show.
“To react to the enemy’s threat and to ensure national security, the defense budget continues to grow stably,” Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. It plans to spend more to purchase advanced weapons from overseas. China has denounced arms sales from the United States to Taiwan.