In discussing the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Jin Canrong, a professor on American issues at the School of International Relations, Renmin University of China, made a statement in an interview with the Guancha (Observer). He advised that China should quickly increase its military spending to 2 percent of GDP in preparation for a potential war with Taiwan over its independence and with the American right wing forces.
Jin said, “From a technical point of view, the Ukraine issue can indeed be seen as a rehearsal for the Taiwan Strait crisis. This is a good learning opportunity. China can learn a lot from it, such as how to fight militarily, what pressures may be encountered politically, how to resolve these pressures, and more.
“For this conflict, different parties have learned experiences from different aspects. For example, for Taiwan, I believe this is a shock to the Taiwan authorities, but judging from their current position, it seems that they have not interpreted it in the right direction. For example, they say that Taiwan’s military strength is stronger than Ukraine’s. They also keep comforting themselves that, ‘for the United States, Taiwan’s strategic value is greater than Ukraine’s.’ This perception is dangerous.
“There is still a danger that some ‘Taiwan independence proponents, along with the U.S. right wing forces, will take the initiative to provoke a Taiwan Strait crisis because they also know that, from the perspective of development, time is advantageous to the mainland. They may not want to follow the rhythm of the mainland anymore. Believing that the mainland is not ready yet, they will make trouble ahead of time. This places higher requirements on our work. We must strengthen military preparations so that we can smash their plans at any time.
“In addition, I agree with a proposal by Lao Hu (Hu Xijin, former chief editor of Global Times), who although our military expenditure has increased 7.1 percent over last year, it is still low in general. It is less than 2 percent of GDP. Considering that the danger (of war) is increasing, it is very necessary to raise our military spending to 2 percent of GDP. We cannot underestimate the risk of the “Taiwan independence” forces and the American right-wing extremists.”
Source: Guancha.cn, April 2, 2022
https://www.guancha.cn/JinCanRong/2022_04_02_632942_s.shtml