TAIPEI, May 9 (Reuters) - Further delays to Taiwan military spending are a "concession" to China, the U.S. State Department said, as Taipei's defence ministry detailed the impact of projects excluded from a package passed by the opposition-controlled parliament.

Editorial from Chinese military’s official newspaper marks the first time that Li Shangfu has been labelled a traitor.

Xi Jinping spent 13 years building a military to rival that of the United States. But the stronger the Chinese forces grew, the less he trusted the generals he had handpicked to run them.

Taiwanese lawmakers approved a special defense budget proposed by President Lai Ching-te that is intended to help the democracy build a state-of-the-art system to counter aerial threats from China.

Neither China nor Japan wants war. The danger is that each side increasingly believes the other is preparing for one.

Washington’s war with Iran and the redeployment of U.S. defenses from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East have further raised concern that China could seize the island without having to fear a U.S. response.

Fox News' Bill Hemmer explains the US blockade line in the Strait of Hormuz. Gen. Jack Keane details the successful blockade of Iranian ports, the multi-layered U.S. defense strategy and how China might react to American military power in the region.