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Days later, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te vowed on Thursday to defend the self-ruled island’s sovereignty in the face of China’s “expansionist ambitions.” Beijing The live-fire military exercise around the island ended.
“Facing China’s growing expansionist ambitions, the international community is paying attention to whether the people of Taiwan have the determination to defend themselves,” Lai said in his New Year’s address.
He added: “As the president of the country, my position has always been clear: resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, strengthen national defense and the resilience of the whole society, and comprehensively build an effective deterrent and democratic defense mechanism.”
Lai’s comments came days later China It ended live-fire drills across Taiwan that included rocket launches, aircraft and warships. Beijing expresses anger over U.S. plans to sell arms to Taiwan and comments from Japan’s new leader Tokyo If China attacks Taiwan, the United States may intervene.
The planned arms sales are worth more than 11 billion US dollars, making it the largest arms sale by the United States to Taiwan to date. It includes missiles, drones, artillery systems and military software.
The United States is obliged to provide Taiwan with the means of self-defense in accordance with its own laws. China claims the self-ruled island as its own territory and has threatened to annex it, using force if necessary.
China’s leaders Xi Jinping He reiterated those threats in a televised New Year’s address on Wednesday, calling eventual annexation “unstoppable.”
Taiwan last year announced a special budget of $40 billion for military purchases, which included the construction of an air defense system with advanced detection and interception capabilities called “Taiwan Dome.”
The budget, which will be allocated over eight years from 2026 to 2033, comes after Jimmy Lai pledged to increase defense spending to 5% of Taiwan’s GDP as part of his strategy to counter the threat of Chinese invasion.
“Faced with China’s serious military ambitions, Taiwan has no time to wait,” Lai said.
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Mistriano reported from Beijing.