6 months ago
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Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te connected Thursday (January 1, 2026) vowed to support the self-ruled island's sovereignty successful the look of China's “expansionist ambitions,” days aft Beijing wrapped up live-fire subject drills astir the island.
“In the look of China's rising expansionist ambitions, the planetary assemblage is watching to spot whether the Taiwanese radical person the resoluteness to support themselves,” Mr. Lai said successful his New Year's address.
“As President, my stance has ever been clear: to firmly safeguard nationalist sovereignty, fortify nationalist defence and the resilience of the full society, and comprehensively conception an effectual deterrence and antiauthoritarian defence mechanism,” helium added.
Mr. Lai's comments came days aft China wrapped up live-fire drills astir Taiwan featuring rocket launches, craft and warships. Beijing had expressed choler astatine a planned U.S. arms income to Taiwan, arsenic good arsenic astatine Japan's caller leader's comments that Tokyo could intervene successful the lawsuit of a Chinese onslaught connected Taiwan.
China holds subject drills astir Taiwan simulating ports blockade
The planned arms sale, valued astatine much than $11 billion, is the U.S.'s largest truthful acold to Taiwan. It includes missiles, drones, artillery systems and subject software.
The United States is obligated by its ain laws to supply Taiwan with the means to support itself. China claims the self-ruled land arsenic its ain territory and threatens to annex it, by unit if necessary.
U.K. calls for restraint implicit China’s subject drills astir Taiwan
China's person Xi Jinping connected Wednesday (December 31, 2025) reiterated those threats successful his ain televised New Year's address, calling an eventual annexation “ unstoppable.” Taiwan past twelvemonth announced a peculiar $40 cardinal fund for arms purchases, including to physique an aerial defence strategy with high-level detection and interception capabilities called the Taiwan Dome.
The fund volition beryllium allocated implicit 8 years, from 2026 to 2033, and comes aft Mr. Lai already pledged to rise defence spending to 5% of the island's GDP, arsenic portion of his strategy amid China's threats of invasion. “Facing China's superior subject ambitions, Taiwan has nary clip to wait,” Mr. Lai said.
