Taiwan reveals high cost of PLA aggressive sorties with air force budget boost proposal

Name: Why has the relationship between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan taken a turn for the worse?
Uploaded: 2021-09-07T12:00:26.000Z
Duration: 10 min 22 s
Description: Why has the relationship between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan taken a turn for the worse?

Maintenance and cost of scrambling jets has seen a 56 per cent rise in funding during Tsai Ing-wen’s presidency

The sharp increases have been mainly due to growing tensions between Taipei and Beijing, with 435 PLA sorties so far this year

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Taiwan’s defence ministry is seeking an increase of nearly 10 per cent in the next financial year to cover the costs of responding to the rising number of PLA warplanes flying towards the island. Photo: EPA-EFE

Lawrence Chung

Published: 8:00pm, 7 Sep 2021Updated: 10:39pm, 7 Sep 2021

Frequent aggressive sorties by PLA warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence zone have prompted a proposed increase of nearly 10 per cent in the island’s air force maintenance budget.

According to a defence ministry budget proposal sent to the legislature for review, the air force has listed NT$29.2 billion (US$1 billion) for maintenance and operational facility procurements for its aircraft for the financial year 2022, up 9.8 per cent from this year, and a 56 per cent rise since 2016 when Tsai Ing-wen was first elected president.

The sharp increases over the years have been mainly due to the growing tensions between Taipei and Beijing, which has escalated the number of warplanes approaching the self-ruled island – especially in the past two years – as it flexes its muscles across the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing considers Taiwan as part of its territory, to be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary. It has suspended talks and exchanges with the island, staged war games nearby and poached seven of its diplomatic allies since Tsai led her independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party to power and refused to accept the one-China principle.

In October before he left office, former defence minister Yen Te-fa admitted to the legislature that the air force scrambled jets every time PLA warplanes approached the island’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), at a cost of NT$25.5 billion last year.

Air force officials have also said that the maintenance budget, usually planned two years in advance, had been affected by the rapid increase in PLA warplane sorties in the past few years, prompting the air force to raise its funding needs for the next financial year.

10:22

Why has the relationship between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan taken a turn for the worse?

According to a military source, the cost of scrambling jets to shadow PLA warplanes adds up to at least NT$1 million per hour, including fuel, maintenance and other operational costs.

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Taiwan reveals high cost of PLA aggressive sorties with air force budget boost proposal

Maintenance and cost of scrambling jets has seen a 56 per cent rise in funding during Tsai Ing-wen’s presidency The sharp increases have been mainly due to growing tensions between Taipei and Beijing, with 435 PLA sorties so far this year

Maintenance and cost of scrambling jets has seen a 56 per cent rise in funding during Tsai Ing-wen’s presidency

The sharp increases have been mainly due to growing tensions between Taipei and Beijing, with 435 PLA sorties so far this year