Taiwan will introduce a supplementary defense budget of 1.25 trillion Taiwanese dollars ($40 billion) as Beijing accelerates military preparations near the island, President Lai Ching-te said at a press briefing Wednesday.

China has continued to increase military drills and so-called "gray-zone harassment" around Taiwan, with the goal of seizing the island by force by 2027, Lai said, according to a CNBC translation of his remarks in Mandarin. The speech comes in the aftermath of a diplomatic dispute between China and Japan over Taiwan.

Lai added that Beijing had intensified its "infiltration and influence campaign," using a range of tools to interfere in Taiwan's politics and society as it seeks to sway public opinion and undermine the island's democracy.

He also cautioned "unpreceden

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