World‌Taiwan's cabinet will propose a 16 per cent annual rise in defence spending for 2027, which would for the first time exceed $1 trillion in Taiwanese money ($43.3 billion Cdn), the official Central News Agency reported on Sunday.Taipei bolsters military as China ramps up pressureThomson Reuters · Posted: Aug 09, 2026 9:25 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te (2nd-L) and Defence Minister Wellington Koo (3rd-L) inspect a drone operation at a navy base during annual Han Kuang military exercise in Kaohsiung on August 8, 2026. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP via Getty Images) (I-Hwa Cheng/AFP/Getty Images)‌Taiwan's cabinet will propose a 16 per cent annual rise in defence spending for 2027, which would for the first time exceed $1.1 trillion in Taiwanese money (about $43.3 billion Cdn), the official Central News Agency reported Sunday amid Taipei efforts to bolster its military.The move will come as China, which ​views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has ramped ​up military and political pressure over the past few years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects.But Taiwan also faces calls from Washington to spend ​more on its own defence, mirroring pressure from the United States on Europe, something ⁠Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has ⁠enthusiastically embraced.The proposed budget, to be unveiled on Aug. 20, will include funding for the coast guard, veterans and special projects, and will, as it did this year, exceed three per cent of gross domestic product, the Central News Agency said.Detailed figures await the final cabinet meeting, it added.AnalysisTrump claims 'fantastic trade deals' with China. What really happened?Taiwan's government has ⁠made military modernization a key policy platform and has repeatedly pledged to spend more on defence, including developing made-in-Taiwan submarines, given the rising threat from China.China's military operates almost daily around Taiwan and holds periodic ‌war games, the last in late December. It is also rapidly modernizing its armed forces, with new aircraft carriers, stealth fighter jets and missiles.In March, China unveiled a rise of seven per cent in this year's defence spending, to 1.91 trillion yuan (about $394.5 billion Cdn).China refuses to ​talk to Lai, saying he is a "separatist." He says only Taiwan's people can decide their future.Taiwan conducts annual military exercisesTaiwan is in the middle ⁠of its annual Han Kuang military exercises.Watching drills in the northern city of Taoyuan on Sunday, Lai ⁠said every exercise was an accumulation of experience giving the military greater confidence.WATCH | What Trump wants from Taiwan:Trump’s Taiwan gambit | About ThatMay 22|Duration 2:41"Every bit of ⁠solid ⁠preparation in peacetime adds another measure of ​stability and strength for our nation," he said, in comments posted on his Facebook account.On Taiwan's east ​coast on Sunday, the ⁠military also carried out a nuclear, biological and chemical decontamination drill, simulating a chemical weapons attack.Soldiers, tanks and armored vehicles were decontaminated and disinfected in a drill aimed at testing the ability to respond quickly to such an event and get personnel and equipment back out to the front lines as soon as possible.