Taiwan’s leader says increasing defence spending to ‘deter war’

Taiwan aims to “deter war” by increasing its defence spending, the democratic island’s leader said Saturday, as China uses military pressure to assert its territorial claims.

“Our aim by increasing investment in national defence is not to provoke, rather, it is to deter war,” President Lai Ching-te said in speech to celebrate Taiwan’s National Day.

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.

Successive administrations have ramped up military spending in the past decade as Taiwan improves its capability to avoid a potential Chinese attack — and to show the United States it is serious about its own defence.

Lai’s government has earmarked a record T$1.1 trillion (US$34.5 billion) in defence spending for 2027, which accounts for more than 3% of GDP.

Taiwanese fighter jets and two Chinook helicopters carrying giant Taiwan flags flew over the capital Taipei as thousands of people, including foreign diplomats, gathered at the Presidential Office for a military parade, dance performances, and Lai’s speech.

Saturday’s celebrations mark the 115th anniversary of the toppling of China’s Qing dynasty and the subsequent founding of the Republic of China.

The current dispute between China and Taiwan dates to a civil war between the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek, who retreated to the island in 1949 after being defeated by Mao Zedong’s communist fighters.