Taiwan Plans Record Spending to Beef Up Its Military

The government wants to spend more money than ever before on defense to prepare for pressure from China.

Taiwan is planning to spend a record amount of money on its military. The government officially approved the new budget proposal today. This is the most money they have ever set aside for defense in one year. The new plan will increase defense spending by 18 percent compared to previous years. This means that about 3 percent of the country's entire economy will go toward buying weapons, improving training, and keeping the military ready. Why are they doing this? It is mostly to send a clear message to China. Tensions between the two have been high for a long time. China considers Taiwan pa…