TAIPEI — Taiwan President Lai Ching-te pledged to ramp up defense measures and protect the island’s security this year, delivering the message from a key military radar outpost in his Lunar New Year address released Sunday. Speaking from the high-altitude Hsiaohsuehshan radar station in Taiwan’s central mountains, visited earlier this month, Lai thanked the armed forces for their round-the-clock vigilance. “We will continue to strengthen our national defence and public security efforts, safeguarding national security and maintaining social stability,” he said in the video posted on his social media channels.
The address highlighted footage of Taiwan’s inaugural homegrown submarine undergoing undersea trials, underscoring self-reliance in military capabilities. Lai’s comments come after his 2025 push for an additional US$40 billion (S$50.54 billion) in defense spending to counter China, which claims Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out force to achieve unification. Parliamentary opposition, holding a majority, has stalled the proposal, opting instead for cheaper alternatives that cover only select US weapons purchases favored by Lai. Beijing brands the president a “separatist” for rejecting its sovereignty claims and recently conducted large-scale war games near the island in late December.
Notably, Lai omitted traditional greetings to China, even as both nations, and South Korea plus much of Southeast Asia, observe the Lunar New Year holiday. Taiwan’s defense posture remains a flashpoint in US-China relations, with Washington providing arms support under a policy of strategic ambiguity.