Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said that his country will build a new multi-layered air defence system called T-Dome to create a safety net for the country.
In his National Day address, Lai said the T-Dome will establish a rigorous air defence system with multi-layered defence, high-level detection, and effective interception. He said, authoritarianism continues to expand, and the international order faces severe challenges in today’s world.
Lai’s opponents accuse him of using the fear of a Chinese invasion to shore up his support, and urge more diplomacy with Beijing.
But Taiwan’s defence ministry has said that China could suddenly turn military drills into actual attacks to catch Taiwan off-guard.
The island will increase its defence spending to more than 3% of its gross domestic product next year and up to 5% by 2030, Lai said on Friday, speaking on the occasion of National Day.
This may be challenging, however, as an opposition-controlled legislature has blocked several spending bills this year.
Unnamed sources who spoke to Reuters news agency compared the newly announced so-called Taiwan or “T Dome” to Israel’s Iron Dome network, which can intercept a range of short-range weapons and operate in all types of weather.
The capabilities of the Iron Dome have been especially evident since Israel’s war with Hamas started in October 2023. The shield has intercepted thousands of rockets fired by Hamas and other militant groups, such as Hezbollah over the last two years.
Equipped with “multi-layered defence, high-level detection and effective interception”, Taiwan’s T-Dome will “weave a safety net” to protect citizens, Lai said.
Lai’s remarks “distort facts” and “mislead public opinion”, Guo Jiakun, the spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said during Friday’s press briefing.
He called Lai a “troublemaker” and “warmonger”, and reiterated that Taiwan was “an inseparable part of China’s territory”.
While the T Dome shows the Taiwan’s commitment to self-defence, implementing it will be challenging, analysts say.
“If the system is modelled after Israel’s, it will require a massive budget. It won’t be easy,” said political scientist Hung-Jen Wang of the National Cheng Kung University.
“The building of the T-Dome won’t happen quickly,” said Dennis Weng of Sam Houston State University, adding that Lai’s announcement had a “promotional intent”.
It will take longer than the remainder of Lai’s term to build the dome, he added, which suggests the message is “clearly aimed at the US”.
Although the US is required by law to arm Taiwan in case of an attack, President Donald Trump’s administration has urged the island to do more to defend itself.
In his speech on Friday, Lai also called on China to “demonstrate the responsibility befitting a major power” by renouncing its use of force and coercion to in the Taiwan Strait.
“Looking back at World War Two, we see that so many experienced the suffering of war and the pain of invasion. We should learn from these lessons and ensure that the tragedies of history are never repeated,” he added.
Reviled by Beijing as a “separatist”, Lai has taken a more forceful stand against China compared to his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, including investing in Taiwan’s military.
In July, it held its largest and longest iteration of an annual military exercise, aimed at readying the population for a possible invasion and publicly showcasing the island’s defences.
Taiwan on Friday unveiled plans for a new multi-layered air defence system, dubbed “T-Dome,” aimed at countering potential threats from China.
President Lai Ching-te said the initiative would be supported by increased defence spending and called on Beijing to renounce the use of force to seize the island.
Democratically governed Taiwan has faced growing military and political pressure from China, which considers the island its own territory. Taiwan, in response, is modernising its armed forces and boosting defence budgets, while China continues to expand its military capabilities with stealth fighter jets, aircraft carriers, and a wide range of missiles.
Lai said in his National Day address that the increase in defence spending had a clear purpose: it was necessary to counter enemy threats and drive the development of Taiwan’s defence industries. He added that Taiwan would accelerate the construction of the T-Dome, establish a rigorous multi-layered air defence system with advanced detection and interception capabilities, and create a safety net to protect the lives and property of its citizens. His speech was met with applause from the audience.
While Lai did not provide technical details about T-Dome in his first public mention, the system is intended to be similar to Israel’s Iron Dome.
A senior presidential office official, speaking on anonymity, said that the T-Dome’s spending plans would be included in the budget proposal set to be presented by the end of the year. The official added that Taiwan hopes to build a more comprehensive air defence network with a higher interception rate and noted that other countries, including the United States, are developing comparable systems.
Currently, Taiwan’s air defence relies on U.S.-made Patriot missiles and domestically developed Sky Bow systems. Last month, at a major arms show in Taipei, Taiwan, also unveiled the Chiang-Kong missile, capable of intercepting mid-level ballistic missiles at higher altitudes than the Patriots.
China reacted angrily to Lai’s speech. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that seeking independence by force would only draw Taiwan into conflict. He added that the individual peddled the separatist fallacy of Taiwan independence, which, he claimed, once again exposed his stubborn nature as a troublemaker, creator of danger, and war-maker.
Lai reiterated that Taiwan seeks peace and stability and urged China to avoid coercion. He remarked that looking back at World War II, many people had experienced the suffering of war and the pain of invasion, and emphasized that lessons should be learned to ensure the tragedies of history are never repeated.
A U.S. administration official welcomed Lai’s commitment to increase defence spending and his call for peace, stating that they would not speculate on how Beijing might react. The official added that, as a general policy, routine speeches should not be used as a pretext for any coercive or military action
.