Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te says tougher measures are needed to counter stepped-up Chinese infiltration, spying and other efforts to weaken the island’s defenses.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday China has deepened its influence campaign and infiltration against the democratic island, adding his government will propose various measures to counter Beijing efforts to "absorb" Taiwan.

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te on Thursday announced plans to restore the island’s military courts in order to counter what he described as China’s “ influence campaigns and manipulation .” Lai accused Beijing of trying to “absorb” Taiwan — China has long viewed the island as a breakaway province that it will eventually subsume.

China is stepping up its campaign of influence and penetration in Taiwan. Taipei will take measures to counter Beijing's attempts to absorb the island, according to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. Ching-te accused Beijing of intensifying: ・military exercises ・trade sanctions;

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te on Thursday vowed to bolster the country's national security in response, including reinstatement of the military trials, to what he described as the "unchanged" annexation ambitions of the "hostile foreign force" China,