Taiwan will step up its defence efforts and safeguard the island’s security in the year ahead, President Lai Ching-te said in his Lunar New Year message released on Sunday.
In an address recorded at one of Taiwan’s most important military radar stations in the island’s central mountain range, Lai thanked the armed forces for protecting Taiwan around the clock.
“We will continue to strengthen our national defence and public security efforts, safeguarding national security and maintaining social stability,” Lai said in the message shared on his social media accounts.
The video showed Lai at the high-altitude Hsiaohsuehshan radar station, speaking with officers and personnel stationed there. It also included footage of Taiwan’s first domestically developed submarine, which is currently undergoing undersea trials.
Lai last year proposed an additional $40 billion in defence spending to counter growing pressure from China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory. However, Taiwan’s opposition parties, which hold a majority in parliament, have refused to review the proposal and instead pushed alternative, less costly plans. Those proposals would fund only part of the U.S. weapons purchases sought by Lai.
Beijing, which denounces Lai as a “separatist” due to his rejection of China’s sovereignty claims over Taiwan, was not mentioned in the New Year greetings. China staged its latest round of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in late December and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.
The Lunar New Year holiday is also widely observed in China, South Korea and many parts of Southeast Asia.