Taiwan To Build Air Defence Dome Against ‘Hostile Threats’

Taiwan plans to construct a dome-like air defence system to protect the island from “hostile threats,” President William Lai announced on Friday, a day after Taipei warned that China was increasing its military capabilities for a possible attack.

Though Lai did not directly name China, Beijing has long claimed the self-ruled island as its territory and has not ruled out using force to take it. Lai said there was a “clear necessity” to increase defence spending, citing persistent Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s waters and airspace, as well as ongoing military drills that simulate an invasion.

The president announced that Taiwan’s defence budget would rise to over 3% of its GDP next year and up to 5% by 2030. However, opposition lawmakers have already blocked several spending bills, creating challenges for Lai’s proposed defence expansion.

Sources familiar with the plan told Reuters the so-called “T-Dome” would be modelled after Israel’s Iron Dome system, which intercepts short-range weapons and has been credited with protecting Israel during its conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah.

Lai said the T-Dome would feature “multi-layered defence, high-level detection and effective interception” to “weave a safety net” for the island’s citizens.

China’s foreign ministry dismissed Lai’s remarks as “distorting facts” and “misleading public opinion,” labelling him a “troublemaker” and reiterating that Taiwan remains “an inseparable part of China’s territory.”

Analysts have cautioned that replicating Israel’s defence model would be expensive and take years to complete. Political scientist Hung-Jen Wang of National Cheng Kung University said the project “will require a massive budget,” while Dennis Weng of Sam Houston State University added that the timeline “extends beyond Lai’s current term.”

In his National Day address, Lai also urged Beijing to “renounce the use of force and coercion,” calling on China to “learn from the tragedies of history” and ensure that “the suffering of war is never repeated.”

Reviled by Beijing as a “separatist,” Lai has adopted a firmer stance toward China than his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, expanding military investments and intensifying readiness exercises as cross-strait tensions continue to rise.