Taiwan will strengthen its defence capabilities and safeguard national security in the year ahead, President Lai Ching-te said in his Lunar New Year message released on Sunday.
In his address, recorded at the high-altitude Hsiaohsuehshan radar station in the central mountain range a site he visited earlier this month Lai thanked the armed forces for their constant vigilance in protecting the island.
“We will continue to strengthen our national defence and public security efforts, safeguarding national security and maintaining social stability,” he said in the message shared on his social media accounts.
The video also featured Taiwan’s first domestically developed submarine, currently undergoing undersea trials, and showed Lai interacting with military officers at the radar station.
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Last year, Lai proposed an additional US$40 billion in defence spending to counter potential threats from China, which claims Taiwan as its territory. However, the opposition, holding a parliamentary majority, has resisted reviewing the proposal, instead advancing smaller-scale plans that only cover partial purchases of the US weapons Lai requested.
Beijing, which labels Lai a “separatist” for rejecting its sovereignty claims, staged major military exercises around Taiwan in late December, though the President did not extend Lunar New Year greetings to China. China has never renounced the use of force to assert control over the island.
