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 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 a 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 defence.

Lai's government has earmarked a record NT$1.1 trillion (US$34.5 billion) in defence 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 for aggressors to encroach ever further," Lai said, noting that China continued to "apply pressure through military and grey-zone activities in an attempt to alter the status quo across the Taiwan Strait".

Lai welcomed talks between the United States and China, but insisted "there must be respect for the right of the people of Taiwan to exist."

Government officials in Washington and Taipei have said repeatedly that U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed under President Donald Trump, whose remarks have jangled nerves at times.

AFP