David Helvey says the self-ruled island ‘must have resources to modernise its military’
Accuses Beijing of attempting to ‘erode Taiwan’s diplomatic space’ at defence industry conference

South China Morning Post 
Date:  31 October, 2018
By: Zhenhua Lu, US correspondent

David Helvey, US principal deputy assistant secretary of defence for Asian and Pacific security affairs, told a conference in Annapolis, Maryland on Monday that the self-ruled island “must have resources to modernise its military and provide the critical materiel, manning and training needed to deter, or if necessary defeat, a cross-strait invasion”.

Helvey said “Taiwan’s current efforts will falter” unless its defence budgets keep growing, according to a transcript of his remarks released by the US-Taiwan Defence Industry Conference on Tuesday.

The official also accused China of attempting to “erode Taiwan’s diplomatic space in the international arena while increasing the frequency and scale of [People’s Liberation Army] activity within and beyond the First Island Chain”.    [FULL  STORY]