Taiwan Pres. Pledges Air Defense System10/10 06:19

   

   TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Taiwan will accelerate the building of a "Taiwan 
Shield" or "T-Dome" air defense system in the face of the military threat from 
China, its leader said Friday.

   President Lai Ching-te also pledged to raise defense spending to more than 
3% of GDP and to reach 5% by 2030. GDP, or gross domestic product, is a measure 
of the size of the overall economy.

   "The increase in defense spending has a purpose," he said in an address to 
an outdoor crowd on Taiwan National Day. "It is a clear necessity to counter 
enemy threats and a driving force for developing our defense industries."

   Taiwan is a self-governing island off China's east coast that the Chinese 
government claims as part of its territory and says must come under its rule.

   The United States, while not recognizing Taiwan as a country, supplies its 
government with military equipment for its defense and opposes any use of 
military force by China to settle its dispute with Taiwan.

   A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Friday criticized U.S. arms sales 
to Taiwan and military ties between Washington and Taipei.

   "The Lai Ching-te authorities' attempt to seek independence through military 
means and resist reunification with force will only drag Taiwan into a perilous 
situation of military conflict," said spokesperson Guo Jiakun.

   Lai called Taiwan a "beacon of democracy" in Asia, drawing a distinction 
with China's one-party state.

   "Democratic Taiwan ... will strive to maintain the status quo, protect peace 
and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and promote regional prosperity and 
development," he said from a large stage set up in front of the early 
20th-century presidential office building.

   Most of his speech focused on economic issues, including Taiwan's response 
to the high tariffs that President Donald Trump has imposed on exports to the 
United States this year.

   The government has launched a 93 billion New Taiwan dollar ($3 billion) plan 
to help companies, workers and those in farming and fishing who are affected by 
the tariffs.

   "We will also actively engage in reciprocal tariff negotiations with the 
U.S. to secure a reasonable rate," Lai said.

   Without mentioning Trump, he said America's tariffs have added to the 
challenges already facing the world -- namely the Russia-Ukraine war, the 
turmoil in the Middle East, and China's continued military expansion.

   The Chinese military regularly sends fighter jets and warships into the 
skies and waters off Taiwan and has staged major military exercises in the area 
in recent years.

   Lai said his government would establish a rigorous defense system with 
high-level detection and effective interception capabilities.

   His use of the phrase "T-Dome," short for Taiwan Dome, was an apparent 
reference to the Iron Dome system that Israel has developed.

   It was not immediately clear if the "T-Dome" referred to a new defense 
system or if it was a new name for existing initiatives. A Defense Ministry 
spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

   Taiwan's Defense Ministry said in a report this week that it is training 
soldiers to shoot down drones and looking to procure anti-drone weapons systems 
in response to China's expanding development and use of military drones.

   Trump has pressured Taiwan to increase military spending to 10% of its GDP, 
an expectation reiterated on Tuesday by the nominee to be the Pentagon's senior 
official for the Indo-Pacific region.

   The "T-Dome" allows Taiwan to signal to the U.S. that it is increasing its 
defense spending rapidly, while keeping its military buildup defensive in 
nature, said Wen-Ti Sung, a fellow with the Atlantic Council.

   "Lai clearly heard U.S. calls for Taiwan to increase its defense spending, 
which is why Lai spelled out very specific defense-budget-as-share-of-GDP 
targets and a specific timeline," Sung added.

   Taiwan, home to 23 million people, operates independently but has not 
declared formal independence, which would risk provoking a Chinese military 
response.

   China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when a civil war 
brought the Communist Party to power in Beijing. Defeated Nationalist Party 
forces fled to Taiwan, where they set up their own government.

   Taiwan's Oct. 10 national day marks the anniversary of a 1911 uprising in 
China that led to the fall of its last imperial dynasty. It comes nine days 
after China's national day on Oct. 1, when communist revolutionary leader Mao 
Zedong declared the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.