"My stance has always been clear: to steadfastly defend national sovereignty, strengthen national defence and whole-of-society resilience, comprehensively establish effective deterrence capabilities, and build robust democratic defence mechanisms," Lai said in a televised address from the Presidential Office.

Lai's remarks came a day after China declared it had "successfully completed" military drills around Taiwan.

China launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter jets, navy ships and coastguard vessels this week to encircle Taiwan's main island.

The drills were aimed at simulating a blockade of key ports and assaults on maritime targets.

Taipei slammed the war games as "highly provocative and reckless" and said they failed to impose a blockade of the self-ruled island.