By Amber Wang,Lawrence Chung

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Beijing hit out at Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s Double Tenth speech on Friday, saying it exposed Lai’s stubborn nature as a troublemaker.
“Lai’s speech distorted right and wrong, peddled fallacies of Taiwan independence and secession, and distorted and challenged historical facts and international consensus, once again exposing his stubborn nature as a troublemaker … and warmaker,” said Guo Jiakun, a mainland foreign ministry spokesman.
The Lai administration’s attempt to pursue independence through force and resist reunification “will only drag Taiwan into a dangerous situation of war”, Guo said.
“Maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait requires upholding the one-China principle and resolutely opposing Taiwan independence. China’s firm opposition to US arms sales to Taiwan and any military ties between the US and Taiwan is consistent and clear,” Guo said.
The ministry’s comments were in response to Lai’s pledge to boost the island’s defence spending and build a missile shield – dubbed the “T-Dome” – modelled after the US’ proposed Golden Dome system, in a bid to counter growing military pressure from Beijing.
In his speech on Friday, he added that his administration would propose a special defence budget by the end of the year to strengthen Taiwan’s deterrence and “whole-of-society” resilience.
“Defence spending, as it is defined by Nato, will exceed 3 per cent of GDP next year, and will reach 5 per cent of GDP by 2030,” Lai said at a ceremony marking the 114th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official title.
Lai said the increase in defence spending “is a clear necessity to counter enemy threats and a driving force for developing our defence industries”. “Through our new defence budget, we aim to achieve three major goals,” he said.
The first and most important goal, he said, was to “accelerate the building of the T-Dome” – a multilayered air defence system with “high-level detection and effective interception”.

He said the system would “weave a safety net for Taiwan to protect the lives and property of citizens”.
Lai did not elaborate on the system, which appears to mirror the US$175 billion Golden Dome missile defence shield announced by US President Donald Trump in May. The US programme aims to establish a vast network of satellites to detect, track and potentially intercept incoming missiles.
Lai’s second goal is to advance the integration of hi-tech and artificial intelligence technologies to build a “smart defence combat system”, maximising effective deterrence under Taiwan’s asymmetric warfare strategy.
The third is to invest in innovative defence technologies and work with advanced foreign partners to strengthen the island’s defence industrial base.
To sustain what he called “peace through strength”, Lai said Taiwan must build on the “whole-of-society defence resilience network” launched earlier this year.
“We have integrated disaster prevention and defence to strengthen military-civilian cooperation. We have also continued to strengthen resilience in civilian training, energy, healthcare, information and communications networks, and finance, comprehensively enhancing our ability to respond to various crises.”
To raise public awareness, he said, the defence ministry had released an updated “national public safety guide”, which included strategies for responding to natural disasters and “even extreme scenarios such as a military invasion”.
Lai also urged Beijing to renounce the use of force and coercion to change the cross-strait status quo.
He said the second world war showed that “aggression fails, unity prevails, and that peace is won through strength”.

The Double Tenth Day address is traditionally a key political event during which Taiwan’s leader sets out the administration’s priorities and cross-strait vision.
It is closely watched in Beijing and foreign capitals alike, particularly this year as presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump prepare to meet at an Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea later this month.
Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve unification. It has stepped up military and political pressure on the island since Lai took office last year and called Beijing a “foreign hostile force”.
Most countries, including the United States – Taiwan’s main arms supplier and international backer – do not recognise the island as an independent state. Washington, however, is bound by law to arm Taiwan for self-defence and opposes any attempt to change the cross-strait status quo by force.
Mainland analysts said that in the speech Lai had toned down his rhetoric but his position was the same.
Wang Jianmin, a senior cross-strait specialist at Minnan Normal University in Fujian province, said the speech was more about economics than politics, but “his Taiwan independence political stance remains unchanged”.
“Although [Lai] did not explicitly repeat the non-subordination formulation this time, he has not changed his firm adherence to the ‘two-state theory’,” Wang said.
“His position on cross-strait relations remains very tough, particularly in repeatedly suggesting the mainland is Taiwan’s greatest threat and using ‘invasion’ as a veiled reference to it – a path that aligns with the US and Western confrontation against the mainland.”
Wang said Lai had consistently portrayed the mainland as a threat and defined it as an aggressor towards Taiwan, which amounted to a serious provocation. “His hostility towards the mainland was therefore very clear,” he said.
Wang noted that Lai’s latest address placed greater emphasis on defence and deterrence. “His intention to ‘resist reunification by force’ and ‘pursue independence by force’ was evident,” he said, citing Lai’s plan to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP next year and 5 per cent by 2030.
“These goals reflect Washington’s demands and cooperation with the US in implementing Taiwan’s defence budget.
“Going forward, Lai Ching-te is likely to devote more energy and resources to military affairs and to working with the US in countering the mainland – something that deserves close attention.”

Zhang Wensheng, deputy dean and professor at the Taiwan Research Institute at Xiamen University, said that although Lai appeared “more low-key” this time, his “Taiwan independence mindset and hostility towards the mainland remain the underlying theme of his remarks”.
Li Zhengguang, from the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Beijing Union University, echoed those views, saying there was no explicit reference to “Taiwan independence” or the “new two-state theory” but that “the hostility towards the mainland remained undiminished”.
Li also warned that even if Washington was driving Lai’s plan to increase defence spending, it would not alter the island’s military imbalance with the mainland. “Whether it’s 3 per cent, 5 per cent, 10 per cent, or even 50 per cent, what’s the point against such a vast mainland?” he said. “If Taiwan truly wants to keep its young people away from the battlefield, it should change course and take a different path.”

In his speech, Lai avoided repeating some of his more provocative comments such as his earlier assertions that Taiwan and the mainland “are not subordinate to each other” and that the mainland is a “foreign hostile force”.
Analysts in Taipei said Lai’s address appeared more conciliatory than in the past, suggesting he may have toned down his rhetoric under pressure from Washington not to stir tensions.
James Yifan Chen, a professor of diplomacy and international relations at Tamkang University in New Taipei City, said Beijing “remains the elephant in the room” in Lai’s speech.
“Lai’s address did not directly point to China; however, all the self-defence measures he outlined – including the T-Dome project – are clearly aimed at countering a potential Chinese attack,” Chen said, adding that since taking office last year, Lai had yet to conduct any dialogue to reduce tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
He noted that Beijing had paid close attention to Lai’s recent interview with conservative US commentator Buck Sexton, in which Lai again emphasised the “new two-state theory” – asserting that the two sides are not subordinate to each other.
“Nevertheless, Lai did exercise restraint in his speech by avoiding direct challenges to China,” Chen said.
“For that reason, the People’s Liberation Army is unlikely to respond with any deliberate mega war game linked to his speech.
“However, PLA warplanes and warships operating near Taiwan’s air defence identification zone will continue, as Lai’s T-Dome announcement still targets China, albeit in a less provocative manner.”
Chen added that Lai’s measured tone might also reflect sensitivity to the coming Xi-Trump summit in Seoul.
“The United States may have told Lai not to focus on China in his remarks, as Washington would not want Taipei to create complications ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting,” he said.
On Wednesday, Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office accused Lai of “prostituting himself to foreigners” to curry favour abroad, saying his “schemes are doomed to fail”.