Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te announced a $40 billion budget for arms purchases on Wednesday. The plans include building an air defense system with high-level detection and interception capabilities called Taiwan Dome, as the U.S. pressures the island to increase its defense spending.

According to the leader, this budget will be allocated over eight years, from 2026 to 2033, and comes after Lai already pledged to raise defense spending to 5% of the island's GDP, as part of his strategy amid China's threats of invasion.

"China's threats to Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region are escalating," Lai said on Wednesday. "Recently, various types of military intrusions, maritime gray zones and disinformation campaigns have been occurring in Japan, the Philippines and around the Taiwan Strait,

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