Taiwanese fighter jets and two Chinook helicopters carrying giant Taiwan flags flew over the capital before President Lai Ching-te spoke outside the Presidential Office in Taipei on 10 October 2026.
In his National Day address, Lai announced a record defence budget of 1.1 trillion New Taiwan dollars for 2027, equal to $34.5 billion and representing more than 3 percent of gross domestic product. He cast the increase as a means of deterring military aggression across the Taiwan Strait.
“Our aim by increasing investment in national defence is not to provoke; rather, it is to deter war,” Lai said.
Lai said Taiwan “cherishes peace” and will “not give up our freedom”. “We are open to exchanges, but will not accept subordination,” he said.
He said China continued to “apply pressure through military and grey-zone activities in an attempt to alter the status quo across the Taiwan Strait”. “Peace cannot rely solely on wishes, and tolerance cannot become a pretext for aggressors to encroach ever further”, Lai said.
Taiwan is a democratic island of 23 million people that lives under the constant threat of an attack by China. China says Taiwan is part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to take it.
That pressure includes large-scale military exercises, near-daily patrols around Taiwan, uncrewed combat aerial vehicle flights, cyber operations, law enforcement activity near Taiwan-administered islands and disinformation campaigns.
Taiwan’s defence budget increased by around 7.5 percent from 2024 to 2025. Lai intends to raise spending to approximately 3.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2026.
The US has separately authorised up to $571 million for Taiwan in Defense Department material and services, as well as military education and training. The Defense Department also approved $295 million in military sales, including $265 million for about 300 tactical radio systems and $30 million for 16 gun mounts.
The $571 million authorisation follows Biden’s approval of $567 million for the same purposes in late September. US military sales and assistance are intended to help Taiwan defend itself and deter an attack by China.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the sales approval in a post on X, saying it reaffirmed the US government’s “commitment to our defense”. China’s government protested the latest US announcements, with its Foreign Ministry warning that the United States was “playing with fire” and urging it to stop arming Taiwan.
Taiwan is also waiting for Trump to sign off on $14 billion worth of weapons, including the US-made Patriot air defence system. Since 2015, the State Department has notified Congress of more than $39 billion in Foreign Military Sales to Taiwan.
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