The Double Ten National Day celebration was held in Taiwan on the 10th, with the Air Force’s Thunder Tiger Aerobatic Team flying five Brave Eagle advanced trainers in formation, releasing colored smoke over the office of regional leader Lai Ching-te. Security checks at this year’s venue were even stricter than last year. In his Double Ten speech, Lai announced an accelerated effort to construct the ‘Taiwan Shield’ air defense system, and to strengthen the development of defense technology and asymmetric warfare capabilities. Meanwhile, attention was focused on China’s response, as Taiwan detected eight PLA aircraft and nine warships harassing the area in the past day.
Lai Ching-te structured his speech around the core theme of ‘The Power of Progress—Six Key Forces,’ including robust democratic strength, innovative economic strength, balanced care, diplomatic partnerships, resilient defense capability, and civic virtue. Regarding increased defense spending, Lai put forward three major goals: to speed up the development of the ‘Taiwan Shield’ air defense system; to build an intelligent defense operational system and further develop asymmetric warfare capabilities; and to continue innovating in defense technology, emphasizing indigenous R&D, design, production and manufacturing, and eliminating the so-called ‘red supply chain.’
He also called on mainland China to stop misrepresenting UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 and World War II historical documents, and to abandon the use of force or coercion to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwan side will persist in maintaining the status quo and safeguarding peace and stability in the strait. Lai also stressed that the defense budget will reach 5% of Taiwan’s GDP by 2030, but did not reiterate the idea that ‘neither side is subordinate to the other’ across the strait.
On the economic front, Lai laid out three main strategies including optimizing Taiwan’s investment environment and increasing employment opportunities; signing a trade partnership agreement with the United Kingdom to deepen Taiwan-UK economic and trade relations; and promoting a new Top Ten AI Infrastructure initiative. This will not only help industries apply AI technologies but will also invest in robotics, quantum technology, and other tech R&D, aiming to make Taiwan one of the world’s top five computing power centers. He mentioned that as of September 10th this year, the number of days Taiwan has been free from martial law officially surpassed the days spent under martial law rule, marking a historic year for Taiwan’s democratization. He also thanked the ‘Shovel Superheroes’ who assisted with post-disaster recovery work in Guangfu, Hualien, demonstrating the Taiwanese people’s determination to protect their homeland.
Informed sources revealed that the aforementioned air defense system will integrate both domestically produced and imported equipment, leveraging smart technologies for comprehensive system integration to address increasingly complex threats, such as simultaneous attacks by drones, rockets, missiles, and aircraft. The source added that, like Israel’s Iron Dome system defending against Iran and its proxies, with this new system, Taiwanese society will be more resilient, better able to defend against mainland China, and recover normal operations more swiftly. The plan is still being formulated, with preliminary integration to begin soon, but details have not yet been made public.
On the evening of the 9th in Taichung, Lai Ching-te addressed the Double Ten celebration, urging citizens never to abandon sovereignty in the face of any challenge or threat, but to steadfastly defend democracy, freedom, and human rights, with protecting Taiwan as the top priority. He said his core focus includes three aspects: making Taiwan safer, the economy more prosperous, and people’s lives better.