Lai says Taiwan’s defence spending aims to deter war as Beijing condemns speech

Taiwan President William Lai Ching-te defended planned increases in defence spending as a way to deter war in his National Day address outside the Presidential Office in Taipei on October 10, 2026. Beijing condemned the speech, underscoring the dispute over the security and future of Taiwan’s roughly 23 million people.

Speaking before thousands of people, including foreign guests and diplomats, Lai said Taiwan cherishes peace and would not give up its freedom. ‘Our aim by increasing investment in national defence is not to provoke; rather, it is to deter war,’ he said, according to Al Jazeera’s report.

Lai paired that message with an offer of engagement: ‘We are open to exchanges but will not accept subordination.’ He accused China of using military and grey-zone activities—pressure short of open warfare—to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing rejects Lai’s National Day message

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said the address ‘disregards facts, distorts the truth, misleads the public, and reveals ulterior motives’. It accused Lai of adhering to Taiwan-independence separatism and exaggerating the threat from the mainland.

Lai argued that wishing for peace was insufficient. ‘Peace cannot rely solely on wishes, and tolerance cannot become a pretext for aggressors to encroach ever further,’ he said. His claim that higher spending would deter conflict was the stated purpose of the policy, rather than an established outcome.

What Taiwan’s proposed 2027 defence budget contains

The spending proposal predates the speech. In its August 22 report, Central News Agency said Taiwan’s Cabinet had approved a 2027 budget proposal on August 20 allocating NT$1.1225 trillion to defence, equivalent to 3.01 percent of gross domestic product.

Al Jazeera’s October report describes the planned amount, rounded to NT$1.1 trillion, as a record. Neither report establishes final legislative enactment, the amount ultimately authorised or an implementation timetable. The figure is therefore planned spending, rather than money already spent.

Michael Hunzeker, a George Mason University associate professor who studies Taiwan’s defence, called the proposal a ‘very positive development’ in comments to CNA in August. He said it reflected Lai’s commitment to keep defence spending above 3 percent of GDP and reach 5 percent by 2030.

Hunzeker said additional resources could support better weapons, ammunition and spare parts, more realistic training, resilience efforts and the recruitment and retention of frontline personnel. Those were potential benefits he identified, not verified improvements resulting from the proposal.

He also warned that the proposal was the start of a long process. Legislative review remained necessary in August, and he pointed to opposition resistance to a separate eight-year special defence budget. His comments were about the earlier proposal, not a reaction to the National Day address, and do not establish its October legislative status.

Military activity reported before the address

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence reported 21 Chinese military aircraft and seven naval ships operating around the island during the 24 hours ending at 6am Taiwan time on October 10, according to Al Jazeera. That period ended at 22:00 UTC on October 9, before Lai’s speech.

The ministry said 13 aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line and entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone. The median line once served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides. The account does not establish entry into territorial airspace or military action in response to the address.

Lai’s message to Washington and regional democracies

Lai welcomed US-China talks but said the right of Taiwan’s people to exist must be respected. He urged Asia-Pacific democracies to work together to preserve regional peace, linking Taiwan’s security to the principle that force should not override rules.

The United States remains Taiwan’s most important security backer despite switching formal diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing nearly five decades ago. Al Jazeera reported that Taiwan was awaiting presidential approval for $14 billion in US weapons, including Patriot air-defence equipment; it did not report approval or delivery.

In his August comments, Hunzeker assessed that the budget proposal would signal resolve to Beijing and answer Washington’s calls for partners to invest more in defence. That assessment explains one argument for the spending increase, while its legislative outcome and practical effects remain unestablished in the two reports.