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

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te gestures as he delivers a speech during National Day celebrations in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei on Saturday. | REUTERS

AFP-Jiji

Oct 10, 2026

Taipei – Taiwan aims to “deter war” by increasing its defense spending, the democratic island’s leader said on 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 defence is not to provoke, rather, it is to deter war,” President Lai Ching-te said in speech to celebrate Taiwan’s National Day.

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