China's Ministry of National Defense on Monday sharply criticized Taiwan region's latest special defense budget, pointing out that the substantial arms purchases is a "blood-sucking bill" exploiting the island's populace.
The ministry's spokesman Jiang Bin said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities are disregarding public welfare and sacrificing the interests of the people for foreign support to pursue their own secession agenda.
"The massive arms purchases are a 'blood-sucking bill' by the DPP authorities, squeezing the people and emptying their livelihoods. The DPP authorities, ignoring the suffering of the people and the reality that young people on the island are unwilling to fight for Taiwan secession, stubbornly use the people's hard-earned money to curry favor with external forces, becoming a 'cash machine' for foreign arms dealers. They even advocate that 'the more money spent, the safer is Taiwan,' but their retrogressive moves are unpopular. Arms purchases cannot buy security. Willingly acting as a pawn will only lead to being ruthlessly extorted. National reunification and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation are Taiwan's most solid guarantees. The more the DPP authorities pursue secession by force and by relying on external forces, the faster they will accelerate the demise of Taiwan secession," said Jiang.
Taiwan region's leader Lai Ching-te has pledged to raise the island's defense budget to 5 percent of GDP by 2030 and reportedly plans to spend a total of 40 billion U.S. dollars on arms purchases over the next eight years. He described the initiative as a "necessary investment" aimed at addressing regional security challenges and strengthening the so-called "asymmetric warfare" capabilities.
A revised version of a special arms procurement bill was passed on May 8, cutting the total budget from the massive 1.25 trillion New Taiwan dollars (about 40 billion U.S. dollars) proposed by the DPP authorities to 780 billion New Taiwan dollars.
The arms procurement bill has triggered heated debate across the island in recent months, with opposition parties and sections of the public questioning both the scale and transparency of the spending plan.
Ministry of National Defense slams Taiwan's arms purchases as "blood-sucking bill"
The 10th China-Russia Expo opened on Sunday in Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang in northeast China, highlighting the resilience, vitality and mutual benefits of China-Russia economic ties.
Held from May 17 to 21, this year's expo covers a floor space of 55,000 square meters, with more than 1,500 companies from 46 countries and regions taking part. Nearly 300 Russian companies are attending, while over 5,000 buyers are expected.
Since 2014, the event has attracted more than 7,200 Chinese and Russian companies and over a million visitors.
The China-Russia Expo is the largest comprehensive exhibition platform between the two countries.
President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin each sent congratulatory letters to the event, encouraging all sectors from both countries to seize the opportunity, make full use of their geographical proximity and economic complementarity, and further expand all-round practical cooperation.
"Leaders of the two countries have signed agreements to deepen practical cooperation, which we fully support. Russia and China stand side by side for common development, benefiting young people and all people. Such cooperation is timely and far-reaching. We are here in Harbin for the China-Russia Expo, coming from Russia's Sakha Republic. Our region is dominated by agriculture. We are seeking advanced farming technologies including irrigation equipment and harvesters. We hope to reach deals in the coming days to boost local development," said Vasiliy Petrovich Alexeev, head of Ust-Aidan Region of the Russian Federation.
"We are greatly inspired by the congratulatory letters from the heads of state of China and Russia. We will keep building targeted and efficient cooperation platforms, and smooth channels for sub-national exchanges between China and Russia," said Chen Shijun, president of Heilongjiang Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
China-Russia trade volume has surpassed 200 billion U.S. dollars for three consecutive years. China has been Russia's largest trading partner for 16 years running.
In the first quarter of this year, bilateral trade volume hit 60 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of more than 14 percent.
This year's Expo features eight major exhibition zones. Beyond the exhibition halls, Russian delegations have also conducted field visits to Chinese companies. A delegation from the Republic of Buryatia visited one of northeast China's largest building materials distribution centers to explore potential areas of cooperation.
"Regular China-Russia economic and trade events continuously bring fresh cooperation opportunities for both sides. This field trip to Xilong Building Materials Market has helped us explore more practical directions and modes for bilateral cooperation," said Alexei Tsydenov, head of the Republic of Buryatia of the Russian Federation.
"Relying on Buryatia's abundant mineral resources and sound logistics conditions, we plan to build industrial parks focusing on home building materials, mineral resources and energy sectors in Russia. We will introduce advanced Chinese technologies and management models to drive coordinated industrial upgrading between the two countries," said Wu Jinrong, vice president of Harbin Xilong International Trade and Logistics Park.
From everyday consumer goods to advanced helicopters, and from mineral resources to intelligent robotics, China-Russia cooperation now spans a wide range of sectors. Economic ties and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries continue to advance toward higher-quality development and broader prospects.
China-Russia Expo promotes trust, cooperation, mutual benefit
China-Russia Expo promotes trust, cooperation, mutual benefit
