ANKARA 

President of Taiwan William Lai Ching-te on Friday said they will build a "T-Dome" system to create a safety net for the island nation.

During his address marking the 114th anniversary of Taiwan's founding, Lai said defense spending will increase by 3% of GDP from next year and reach 5% by 2030.

"We will accelerate our building of the T-Dome, establish a rigorous air defense system in Taiwan with multi-layered defense, high-level detection, and effective interception, and weave a safety net for Taiwan to protect the lives and property of citizens," he said, according to a transcript.

"The increase in defense spending has a purpose; it is a clear necessity to counter enemy threats and a driving force for developing our defense industries," he said.

Lai also addressed regional and international issues, including US tariffs, saying that despite mounting challenges, the people of Taiwan are still on their feet.

"Nations around the world are suffering drastic changes and challenges, and Taiwan is no exception. In addition to the Russia-Ukraine war, turmoil in the Middle East, and China’s continued military expansion, the United States’ tariff policy has delivered a blow to economies and industries alike," he said.

Lai added that in today’s world, authoritarianism continues to expand and the international order faces severe challenges, while the regional stability of the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea, South China Sea, and even the security of the entire first island chain are under "serious threat."

"We look forward to the day when China takes responsibility as a major power and ceases its distortion of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 and historical World War II documents. We also hope it will renounce the use of force or coercion to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, so that together we can maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific," he said.

Taiwan marks Oct. 10 annually as National Day.

Reacting to the Taiwan regional leader's remarks against China, the Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesperson criticized Lai's comments against China and accused him of misleading the public and distorting history.

During his news conference, Guo said Lai’s remarks about “democracy versus authoritarianism” were aimed at promoting separatist narratives.

“To uphold peace and stability across the Strait, one must adhere to the one-China principle and oppose Taiwan independence unequivocally,” Guo stressed, adding that the Taiwan question is “purely China’s internal affair.”

He added that Beijing firmly opposes any country having diplomatic relations with China or having official exchanges with Taiwan in any form.

Separately, Taiwan’s defense ministry faced criticism in parliament on Thursday over plans to spend NT$120 ($3.93) per bottle on military water supplies, with opposition lawmaker Ma Wen-chun questioning the high procurement costs, according to TVBS News.

The criticism came during the Taiwan parliament's review of a NT$113.2 billion ($3.7 billion) special defense resilience budget, which, according to Ma, also includes funding for NT$50,000 ($1,639) chairs and NT$800 million ($26.2 million) for specialized bottled water.