Skip to content

Taiwan Unveils Raise in Defense Spending as China Details Combat Drills Near Island

  • World

The Lost Art of Great Popular Song

Is the Great American Songbook still being written? The so-called Great American Songbook is defined as a canon of the memorable “standards” of popular song that helped to define American culture in the first half of the 20th century. Its great composers included Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, the Gershwins, and Jerome Kern. These songwriters’ names were just as well-known as the names of famous singers, because it was an age when the song stood proudly independent from the performer. Standards such as “Stardust” by Hoagy Carmichael would be uniquely recorded by many singers, from Frank Sinatra to Doris Day to Nat King Cole. One of the last songs to receive such multi-artist treatment was Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday” (1965), the most recorded song in history, with over 4,000 versions by everyone…

Taiwan Unveils Raise in Defense Spending as China Details Combat Drills Near Island

TAIPEI—Taiwan unveiled a T$42.1 billion ($1.4 billion) increase for next year’s planned defense spending on Thursday, as China announced details of its latest combat drills near the democratic island.

China has stepped up its military activity near Taiwan, which it regards as a breakaway province.

On Monday, Taiwan said Chinese fighters briefly crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, the same day U.S. health chief Alex Azar met President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei. China had denounced Azar’s trip.

Tsai’s Cabinet is proposing T$453.4 billion ($15.4 billion) in military spending for the year starting in January, versus T$411.3 billion ($13.8 billion) budgeted for this year, up 10.2 percent, according to Reuters calculations.

“The steady increase in the defense budget will facilitate the implementation of various military-building and war-preparation tasks … and ensure national security and regional peace and stability,” Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said.

About 3 hours after the budget announcement, China’s People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said its forces had in recent days carried out combat drills in the Taiwan Strait and to the north and south of the island, implying they were aimed at Azar’s trip.

Taiwan Unveils Raise in Defense Spending as China Details Combat Drills Near Island Chinese People’s Liberation Army personnel attending the opening ceremony of China’s new military base in Djibouti on Aug. 1, 2017. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

“Recently, a certain large country has continued to make negative moves on Taiwan-related issues, sending serious wrong signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ forces, and seriously threatening the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,” it said.

“The theater command’s organizing of patrols and exercises are necessary actions taken in response to the current security situation across the Taiwan Strait and to safeguard national sovereignty,” the statement added.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the situation was normal and people should not worry.

Tsai has made modernizing Taiwan’s armed forces and increasing defense spending a priority.

Taiwan Unveils Raise in Defense Spending as China Details Combat Drills Near Island Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen delivers her inaugural address at the Taipei Guest House in Taipei on May 20, 2020. (Wang Yu Ching/Taiwan Presidential Office/Handout via Reuters/File Photo)

The budget must be approved by lawmakers, though Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party has a large majority in the legislature, making it unlikely to be blocked.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and has denounced the United States for arms sales to the island. Washington is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

Taiwan is in discussions with the United States to acquire sea mines to deter amphibious landings, as well as cruise missiles for coastal defense, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to United States said on Wednesday.

Last year, the U.S. State Department approved arms sales worth $10 billion for Taiwan.

Taiwan’s military is well-armed but dwarfed by that of China.

“Taiwan authorities are spending their taxpayers’ money on defense, but no matter how much they spend on defense, Taiwan is still a small place. Confronting the mainland is like an ant trying to shake a tree,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing.

By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard

Focus News: Taiwan Unveils Raise in Defense Spending as China Details Combat Drills Near Island

White House Seeking to Cut Capital Gains Tax via Congress: Kudlow

The White House would prefer to see a tax on capital gains cut to 15 percent, said adviser Larry Kudlow, who noted that President Donald Trump will not cut them by way of an executive order. “We are looking at middle-class income tax cuts and capital gains tax cuts to spur investment and jobs and liquidity,” Kudlow told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.  He added: “In another era, we used to call them tax cuts 2.0. The president has never lost those thoughts,” while adding that Joe Biden, the president’s 2020 rival, would raise taxes. Kudlow said that it’s imperative that legislators in Congress work to come up with a cut to capital gains taxes, adding that it’s “not part” of any Trump executive order or plans on…