By Ben Blanchard
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan accused China on Monday of squandering the equivalent of 2% of its entire defence budget to commemorate the end of World War Two as this year’s 80th anniversary fuels a bitter battle of narratives between Beijing and Taipei.
The war was preceded by Japan’s takeover of China’s northeastern region of Manchuria in 1931 and invasion of the rest of China in 1937.
Taiwan says China’s ruling Communist Party is falsely claiming credit for leading the fighting when most of it was done by forces of what was then the Republic of China.
The Republic’s government fled to Taiwan in 1949, after losing a civil war, and the island retains Republic of China as its formal name.
Speaking in Taipei at an academic seminar on the war, Shen Yu-chung, a deputy minister at Taiwan’s China-policy-making Mainland Affairs Council, said Beijing’s parade, which President Xi Jinping will oversee on Wednesday, would in effect cost more than 36 billion yuan ($5 billion).
This compares to China’s 2025 defence budget of around $249 billion.
“They are willing to spend over T$150 billion to hold a military exercise while neglecting China’s internal economic, labour, and social issues,” he said. “I wonder what the Chinese people think about this situation.”
Speaking separately and on condition of anonymity, a senior Taiwan security official said the estimate included 1 billion yuan alone for fuel and military personnel costs alone, as well as losses for factories closed to ensure clear skies for the parade.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the numbers, and neither China’s Defence Ministry nor its Taiwan Affairs Office responded to requests for comment.
Last week, Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Taipei was “blaspheming” the sacrifices of those who died fighting Japan by denying the pivotal role of the Communist Party.
Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory over the strong objections of Taipei’s government.
The anniversary is also sensitive for Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), who ruled the Republic of China before fleeing to the island in 1949.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu told reporters in Taipei that, while the communists “took part” in the war, it had been led by the Republic of China and the KMT.
“This history is very clear and cannot be distorted,” he said.
($1 = 7.1529 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Yimou Lee)
