Taiwanese president vows to strengthen island’s defences in Lunar New Year message

President Lai delivers address from radar station in Taiwan’s central mountain range

Taiwan's president has thanked the armed forces and vowed to strengthen the island’s defences in a defiant Lunar New Year address.

President Lai Ching-te gave his speech marking the start of the new year at a time of growing military and political pressure from China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to seize the island by force if necessary.

And the choice for the location of Mr Lai’s address was significant, with the president speaking on Sunday from a high-altitude radar station sat atop the island’s central mountain range.

“During Lunar New Year, as families gather together to celebrate, many of our citizens are just like the troops stationed here, steadfastly working hard at their posts. I want to thank our troops and our men and women in the coast guard for their around-the-clock efforts to protect our homeland,” he said.

”We must continue to strengthen our national defence capabilities and public security efforts to safeguard national security and maintain social stability,” he said.

The Lunar New Year video from the Taiwanese government also featured footage of the island’s first domestically developed submarine, which is in the process of undersea trials.

An installation of a horse is seen at Taiwan's biggest Lunar New Year market in Taipei (AFP via Getty Images)

Mr Lai has proposed $40bn (£29.3bn) in extra defence spending to counter Chinese threats, but faces obstacles passing the budget in parliament. Taiwan’s opposition, which controls more seats in the legislative assembly than Mr Lai’s governing DPP, has refused to review the plan and advanced its own less expensive proposals.

In December, president Donald Trump’s administration announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10bn including medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, drawing an angry response from China.

It coincided with Taiwan's government pledging to raise defence spending to 3.3 per cent of the island’s gross domestic product next year and to reach 5 per cent by 2030. Trump has suggested Taiwan should be spending as much as 10 per cent of GDP on its defence, a percentage well above that of the US or any of its major allies.

Trump’s demands have faced pushback from the main opposition KMT party as well as some of the Taiwanese public.

In a recent interview, Mr Lai warned that other countries in the Asia-Pacific would be next if Beijing manages to invade his self-governed island.

“We must have the capability to deter China’s aggression at any time. We want to ensure that, for China, there is never a day that is a good day to invade Taiwan,” he said.