Warplanes of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conduct operations during joint combat training exercises around the Taiwan Island, August 7, 2022. Photo: Xinhua

Citing "threats" from the mainland, Taiwan island authorities have passed the largest yearly budget in 22 years on Thursday with the defense budget for the next year reaching NT$415 billion ($13.7 billion), showing a nearly 13 percent year-on-year increase. But experts warned that this could only make US arms dealers get richer instead of helping the island fight against the mainland as the military capacity gap is too big between the two sides.

According to Taiwan media, it marks a total of NT$523.4 billion of the defense budget taking into account a special budget planned to purchase fighter jets and enhance the island's naval and air forces. It shows an increase of 14.9 percent or NT$67.7 billion this year.

An official on the island said that the expenditure has largely increased in the armed force's personnel and operation maintenance as well as military investment. The expansion is out of need to handle with recent intensified situation and the mainland's frequent drills in the Taiwan Straits, the official noted.

Tan Kefei, a spokesperson of China's Ministry of National Defense, reiterated on Thursday that it is the secessionist forces on the island who are colluding with external forces that have caused the escalation of tensions across the Taiwan Straits. The recent drills of the People's Liberation Army in the Taiwan Straits are just aimed to deter these secessionists and external forces, Tan noted.

The tensions across the Taiwan Straits have been exaggerating following the reckless visit of the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on August 2. After Pelosi's visit, Washington, instead of reflecting on its own mistakes and correcting them, continues to provoke China with the latest reported trip by US lawmakers to Taiwan on Thursday night.

Mainland experts warned that the island expanding military budget would only benefit US arms dealers rather than bring any good to the Taiwan island as the gap in military capacity between the island and the mainland is too big.

The secessionist authorities on the island want to expand defense budget as they try to purchase more weapons to arm themselves to refuse reunification by force. However, due to the huge capacity gap between Taiwan and the mainland, it is impossible for the island to create asymmetric advantage against the mainland no matter how many weapons it purchases, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Taiwan island spending more money to purchase weapons would only help US arms dealers get richer. The US would take no account of whether it could help the island or not, Song said.