Overview
- President Lai announced the T-Dome concept to build a rigorous, multilayered air-defense net with high-level detection and interception, without providing an operational timeline.
- Taipei will propose a special defense budget by year-end, with overall military spending set to exceed 3% of GDP next year and reach 5% by 2030.
- The concept emphasizes artificial intelligence and comprehensive integration of U.S.-made and Taiwan-developed systems, with unnamed sources saying initial integration will begin soon.
- Taiwan’s 2025 defense report cites this year’s highest frequency and duration of Chinese military flights in the strait, reinforcing the need for enhanced defenses.
- Beijing condemned Lai’s remarks, while a U.S. official welcomed the spending pledge and urged that routine speeches not be used as a pretext for coercion.