Lai says Taiwan's defence build-up aims to deter war, not provoke, in National Day speech

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te used his National Day address on Saturday to argue that the island's rising defence spending is meant to deter a war rather than provoke one. Speaking outside the Presidential Office in Taipei, he said Taiwan is strengthening its self-defence not to abandon dialogue with Beijing but to make sure any dialogue takes place on the basis of parity and dignity.

Lai said China keeps applying military and grey-zone pressure in an attempt to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, and warned that peace cannot rest on wishes alone, nor can tolerance become a pretext for aggressors to keep encroaching. The government would therefore keep reforming the armed forces, strengthening asymmetric capabilities and building up indigenous defence industries, he said, turning Taiwan's strengths in semiconductors, information and communications technology and precision manufacturing into the power to protect the country.

Resilience and a record budget

The president also pointed to the government's whole-of-society defence resilience programme, which he said pools the central government, local authorities and civil society to keep energy, communications, transport, finance, food and healthcare running in a crisis. He thanked troops, reservists, police, firefighters, medical staff, civil defence volunteers and members of the public who had taken part in exercises, saying each round of preparation adds another line of defence for Taiwan's peace.

Lai gave no new spending figures in this year's speech. His government has earmarked a record T$1.1 trillion (about US$34.5 billion) for defence in 2027, more than 3 percent of gross domestic product, AFP reported. In his 2025 National Day address he pledged a special defence budget, said NATO-defined defence spending would reach 5 percent of GDP by 2030, and promised to accelerate the T-Dome multi-layered air defence network.

He welcomed efforts by the United States and China to manage their competition through dialogue and lower the risk of war, but said regional stability also requires respect for the Taiwanese people's right to exist, and that Indo-Pacific democracies must work together so the status quo is not changed. Taiwan cherishes peace but will not give up its freedom, and is open to exchanges but will not accept subordination, he said.

Flyovers and a PLA patrol

Taiwanese fighter jets and two Chinook helicopters carrying giant national flags flew over the capital as thousands of people, including foreign diplomats, gathered for the ceremony, AFP reported. Guests named in the speech included Eswatini's King Mswati III and Furuya Keiji, chairman of the Japan-Taiwan Diet Members' Consultative Council.

The address came hours after Taiwan's defence ministry said it had detected 21 sorties by Chinese military aircraft, 13 of which crossed the Taiwan Strait median line into northern, central and southwestern airspace, along with seven navy ships and two official vessels operating around Taiwan in the 24 hours to Saturday morning. The ministry said it monitored them with patrol aircraft, warships and shore-based missile systems.

Most of the speech dealt with domestic policy, including child allowances, housing and energy, ahead of nine-in-one local elections. The Liberty Times led its coverage with Lai's line that this city upon a hill must be ironclad, with the public united as a key force for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.