Taipei, China - Taiwanese President Lai Ching-Te on Friday vowed to build a new multi-layered "T-Dome" air defense system to counter potential "enemy threats" – a thinly veiled reference to China.

Lai's government has been under pressure from the Trump administration to improve its defense capabilities against a potential attack by China, which claims the island nation as part of its sovereign territory.

"We will accelerate our building of the T-Dome, establish a rigorous air defense system in Taiwan with multi-layered defense, high-level detection, and effective interception," Lai said during Taiwan's National Day celebrations.

He said Taiwan was determined to "maintain peace through strength" and called on China to "renounce the use of force or coercion to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait."

His speech followed a bruising year for Lai domestically, as he's faced a stalemate in Taiwan's parliament, which is held in the majority by opposition parties.

Lai reiterated on Friday his plans to ramp up defense spending to more than 3% of GDP next year and 5% by 2030. The pledge was made in part to shore up support from the Trump administration.

"We will advance the integration of high-tech and AI technologies to build a smart defense combat system, maximizing effective deterrence for our asymmetric strategy," Lai said.

Lai has been making an effort to please the US president, even suggesting he get a Nobel Peace Prize. As a result, he has faced increasing criticism from Beijing.

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun accused Lai of trying to "seek independence through force," an act he warns could "drag Taiwan into a dangerous situation of war."

"Maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait requires adhering to the one-China principle and taking a clear stand against Taiwan independence," Guo said.