Taiwanese President William Lai ChinCap Video – No Adsg-te on Wednesday announced a $40 billion boost to defense spending to counter “intensifying” threats from China, which he said is “speeding up military preparations to take Taiwan by force.”
“Taiwan must not become a weak point in regional security. Among all the possible scenarios for China’s annexation of Taiwan, the biggest threat is not force – it is our own surrender,” Lai declared.
Lai said his government was prepared to counter any efforts at “repression” by China, and pledged to achieve a “high level of combat preparedness” within two years, including major upgrades to missile, drone, and artificial intelligence capabilities.
“China’s threats to Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region are escalating. Recently, various types of military intrusions, maritime gray zones and disinformation campaigns have been occurring in Japan, the Philippines and around the Taiwan Strait,” he warned, “causing deep unease and distress to all parties in the region.”
“Taiwan, as the most important and most critical part of the first island chain, must demonstrate our determination and take on a greater responsibility in self-defense,” he said.
Lai’s language was bound to raise China’s blood pressure, because “first island chain” means the string of islands and reefs from Taiwan to Japan that China is attempting to seize through force and intimidation, even though Beijing’s claims have been rejected by international tribunals.
China is currently embroiled in a highly public feud with Japan because Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae told her parliament that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be a “survival-threatening situation” – in other words, a situation that would justify the use of military force under Japan’s pacifist constitution.
Japanese leaders have never before used those exact words to describe their alliance with Taiwan. China’s seemingly hysterical reaction was triggered in part because Beijing fears the increasingly strong alliance between other Pacific powers aligned with the United States. Lai’s announcement on Wednesday reinforced the importance of that alliance, and supported Takaichi’s contention that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a threat to every nation in the island chain.
“We hope China can understand that each country in the Indo-Pacific region has a responsibility to its peace and stability, and that we especially hope China, as a major power in the region, would also demonstrate the responsibilities of a major power,” Lai said, directly referencing the dispute between Beijing and Tokyo.
“Instead, it has continued to raise threats and attacks toward neighboring countries. This is not the way a responsible major power acts,” he lamented.
The extra spending announced by President Lai, which would be spread out over eight years, brings Taiwan’s defense budget up to 3.3 percent of GDP. Lai has said he plans to bring spending up to five percent of GDP, while President Donald Trump has asked the imperiled island nation to shoot for ten percent.
Lai wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post on Tuesday in which he expressed gratitude to President Trump for pursuing “peace through strength,” and said Taiwan is fully on board with that principle, as demonstrated by his $40 billion supplemental defense spending plan.
“This landmark package will not only fund significant new arms acquisitions from the United States, but also vastly enhance Taiwan’s asymmetrical capabilities,” he wrote. “In doing so, we aim to bolster deterrence by inserting greater costs and uncertainties into Beijing’s decision-making on the use of force.”
“My message here is clear: Taiwan’s dedication to peace and stability is unwavering. No country will be more determined in safeguarding Taiwan’s future than our own,” he declared.
Lai said his long-term goal was to accelerate the development of “T-Dome,” Taiwan’s answer to Israel’s Iron Dome and President Trump’s proposed Golden Dome defense shield for North America. He described T-Dome as a “multilayered, integrated defense system designed to protect Taiwan from PRC missiles, rockets, drones and combat aircraft.”
Taiwan unveiled its plans for T-Dome last month on National Day, a public holiday commemorating the founding of the Republic of Taiwan. In his National Day address, Lai said T-Dome would be a “rigorous air defense system” with “mutli-layered defense, high-level detection, and effective interception.”
Few additional details have been provided to date, including whether T-Dome will integrate Taiwan’s existing mix of U.S.-made Patriot missiles and domestically-produced air defense systems. Taiwan recently rolled out a system called Chiang-Kong that was designed to intercept medium-range ballistic missiles at higher altitudes than the Patriot can reach.
China has consistently objected to Lai’s plans for enhanced defense, and it did so again on Wednesday, with a belligerent statement from the Taiwan Affairs Office that threatened to “crush all foreign interference” with Beijing’s plans.
“We have a firm will, strong determination and a strong ability to defend our national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Taiwan Affairs Office threatened.
“Japan’s deployment of offensive weapons in areas adjacent to China’s Taiwan region is extremely dangerous, deliberately creating regional tensions and provoking military confrontation,” the statement from Beijing added, referring to Japan’s plan to deploy medium-range surface-to-air missiles on the island of Yonaguni, which is about 70 miles east of Taiwan.
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