Taiwan president says defence spending boost aims to ‘deter war’

What happened: Taiwan President William Lai Ching-te said in a National Day speech in Taipei that higher defence investment aims to deter war, not provoke it. China's Taiwan Affairs Office condemned the speech. Key numbers: Taiwan set aside a record 1.1 trillion New Taiwan dollars ($34.5bn) for defence in 2027, over 3 percent of GDP. Why it matters: Beijing rejected Lai's offers of talks and called him a separatist, while Lai urged Asia Pacific democracies to join forces for regional peace and said talks between the US and China must respect Taiwan's right to exist.

Taiwan President William Lai Ching-te said in a National Day speech in Taipei that higher defence investment aims to deter war, not provoke it. China's Taiwan Affairs Office condemned the speech.

Beijing rejected Lai's offers of talks and called him a separatist, while Lai urged Asia Pacific democracies to join forces for regional peace and said talks between the US and China must respect Taiwan's right to exist.