Taiwan’s president pledges to defend island’s sovereignty after China’s military drills

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In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, center, is accompanied by his Vice President Bi-Khim Hsiao, second right, and officials wave national flags as they attend a New Year flag raising ceremony at the Presidential Office, in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te delivers his New Year speech at the Presidential Office, in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP) — In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, center, is accompanied by his Vice President Bi-Khim Hsiao, second right, and officials wave national flags as they attend a New Year flag raising ceremony at the Presidential Office, in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

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9:29 PM on Wednesday, December 31

By TAIJING WU and SIMINA MISTREANU

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Thursday vowed to defend the self-ruled island’s sovereignty in the face of China’s “expansionist ambitions,” days after Beijing wrapped up live-fire military drills around the island.

“In the face of China’s rising expansionist ambitions, the international community is watching to see whether the Taiwanese people have the resolve to defend themselves,” Lai said in his New Year’s address.

“As president, my stance has always been clear: to firmly safeguard national sovereignty, strengthen national defense and the resilience of the whole society, and comprehensively construct an effective deterrence and democratic defense mechanism,” he added.

Lai’s comments came days after China wrapped up live-fire drills around Taiwan featuring rocket launches, aircraft and warships. Beijing had expressed anger at a planned U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, as well as at Japan’s new leader’s comments that Tokyo could intervene in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan.

The planned arms sale, valued at more than $11 billion, is the U.S.’s largest so far to Taiwan. It includes missiles, drones, artillery systems and military software.

The United States is obligated by its own laws to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. China claims the self-ruled island as its own territory and threatens to annex it, by force if necessary.

China’s leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday reiterated those threats in his own televised New Year’s address, calling an eventual annexation “ unstoppable.”

Taiwan last year announced a special $40 billion budget for arms purchases, including to build an air defense system with high-level detection and interception capabilities called the Taiwan Dome.

The budget will be allocated over eight years, from 2026 to 2033, and comes after Lai already pledged to raise defense spending to 5% of the island’s GDP, as part of his strategy amid China’s threats of invasion.

“Facing China’s serious military ambitions, Taiwan has no time to wait,” Lai said.

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Mistreanu reported from Beijing.