TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — National security and defense remain top priorities in Taiwan-US relations, Taiwan’s representative to the US Alexander Ta-Ray Yui (俞大㵢) said on Friday.

Speaking at an event at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Yui emphasized the need to secure US and allied support for maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, CNA reported. He also stressed that Taiwan must remain resolute in responding to a potential Chinese invasion, as Beijing has never abandoned its goal of annexing Taiwan.

Taiwan is implementing military reforms and adopting a new island-defense strategy to replace previous operational models, Yui said. Progress has already been made in asymmetric warfare tactics, gray-zone operations, and reserve force reforms, signaling a fundamental shift in Taiwan’s approach to security threats, he added.

Yui noted that Taiwan has steadily increased its military spending to bolster defense capabilities. President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has pledged to raise defense spending above 3% of GDP.

Meanwhile, high-level communication mechanisms between Taiwan and China have ceased, Yui said, as Beijing refuses to recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty.

Yui’s remarks came after the Ministry of National Defense issued a statement Friday warning that China’s increasing aggression toward Taiwan is bound to fail. The ministry said Beijing is following the path of past aggressors, which historically leads to ruin, as seen in World War II. It added that China's escalating military threats in the Indo-Pacific reflect a hegemonic mindset.

On Wednesday, the Chinese military conducted a joint live-fire exercise off Taiwan’s southern coast without prior warning. It also deployed 32 military aircraft around Taiwan, with 22 crossing the Taiwan Strait median line into the northern and southeastern areas of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. Taiwan responded by dispatching naval, air, and coastal forces to monitor PLA activity.