TAIPEI: Taiwan aims to “deter war” by increasing its defense spending, the democratic island’s leader said Saturday, as China uses military pressure to assert its territorial claims.
Taiwan’s 23 million people live under the constant threat of an attack by China, which insists the island is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex it.
“Our aim by increasing investment in national defense is not to provoke, rather, it is to deter war,” President Lai Ching-te said in speech to celebrate Taiwan’s National Day.
Successive administrations have ramped up military spending as Taiwan improves its fighting abilities to avoid a potential Chinese invasion — and to show the United States it is serious about its own defense.
Lai’s government has earmarked a record NT$1.1 trillion ($34.5 billion) in defense spending for 2027, which accounts for more than three percent of GDP.
“We do not seek hegemony, nor do we seek to dominate others,” Lai said in his annual address in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei where thousands of people, including foreign diplomats, were gathered.
“However, peace cannot rely solely on wishes, and tolerance cannot become a pretext....
