Video: Taiwan’s President Warns of Growing Chinese Military Aggression

“You just announced this past week that you’re introducing a $40 billion special budget for military spending to buy more weapons from the U.S. to try to deter China from invading Taiwan. What indicators — and perhaps new indicators — are you looking at that shows an increased threat to Taiwan?” Translator: “We can see that China’s military drills targeted at Taiwan are becoming increasingly frequent and intense. They have even moved beyond the first island chain into the second, affecting the wider Indo-Pacific region. At the same time, China’s United Front influence campaigns against Taiwan are also becoming more serious. In order to safeguard national security and fulfill our responsibility to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, we have announced this special defense budget. This includes improving our economic resilience. In 2010, 83.8 percent of Taiwan’s outbound investment went to China. Last year, that figure had dropped to around 7 percent. We are also working side by side with other democracies to reinforce deterrence. Robust preparations are the best way to avoid war and achieve peace.”