Taiwan President William Lai Ching-te delivers a speech during National Day celebrations in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei on October 10, 2026 [Ann Wang/Reuters] By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP, Reuters and The Associated Press Published On 10 Oct 202610 Oct 2026 Taiwan President William Lai Ching-te says the island “cherishes peace” and will “not give up our freedom” in a National Day speech outside the Presidential Office in Taipei.
Lai made the remarks on Saturday before thousands of people, including foreign guests and diplomats.
“We are open to exchanges but will not accept subordination,” he said.
“Our aim by increasing investment in national defence is not to provoke; rather, it is to deter war.” Fighter jets and two Chinook helicopters carrying giant Taiwan flags flew over the capital before the speech.
The holiday marks the 115th anniversary of a 1911 uprising that toppled China’s last imperial dynasty and led to the founding of the Republic of China.
Pressure from China Taiwan’s 23 million people live under the threat of an attack by China, which insists the island is part of its territory, has never renounced the use of force to take it and calls Lai a “separatist”.
Beijing has rebuffed his offers of talks.
Lai said China continued to “apply pressure through military and grey-zone activities in an attempt to alter the status quo across the Taiwan Strait”.
Grey-zone tactics are actions that stop short of open war.
“Peace cannot rely solely on wishes, and tolerance cannot become a pretext for aggressors to encroach ever further,” he added.
Lai’s government has set aside a record 1.1 trillion New Taiwan dollars ($34.5bn) for defence in 2027, more than 3 percent of its gross domestic product.
China held war games around the island shortly after Lai’s first National Day speech in 2024 but not last year.
Its last drills near Taiwan were in late December after news of an $11bn arms deal with the United States, the largest ever US weapons package for the island.
Advertisement Lai said he welcomed talks between the US and China but insisted “there must be respect for the right of the people of Taiwan to exist”.
He urged democracies in the Asia Pacific to join forces to preserve peace and stability in the region.
Lai also said China has exerted pressure to try to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and the island’s “resolve” is not just about its own survival in the face of “authoritarian expansion”.
It’s also about whether the international community still believes that force cannot override rules, he added.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence, 21 Chinese military aircraft and seven navy ships were operating around Taiwan in a 24-hour period ending at 6am on Saturday (22:00 GMT on Friday).
Thirteen of the aircraft crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait, which once served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides, and entered the island’s air defence identification zone.
Eswatini King Mswati III and Indiana Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith were among the foreign guests who offered their congratulations in Taiwan, Lai’s office said.
Eswatini is Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Africa.
A Japanese parliamentary delegation also visited the island and joined the National Day celebrations.
The US switched its official diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing nearly 50 years ago but remains Taiwan’s most important security backer.
Officials in Washington and Taipei have repeatedly said US policy on Taiwan has not changed under President Donald Trump.
In May, after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Trump suggested arms sales to Taiwan could be a bargaining chip with China, which set off alarm across the world.
Taiwan is now waiting for Trump to sign off on $14bn worth of weapons, including the US-made Patriot air defence system.
The dispute dates back to China’s civil war, when the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after defeat by Mao Zedong’s communists.
The Republic of China remains the island’s formal name.
