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Wei, Lai denied that the investment was a result of U.S. pressure and noted that Trump had affirmed his commitment to regional stability in a joint statement with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in February.

Lai has also said Taiwan will aim to increase defense spending to 3% of GDP this year from about 2.4% the year before.

In a slate of measures announced last week to curb Chinese influence and infiltration on the island, Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te called for tighter control of cross-strait exchanges, which he said were seen by China as a way to "create internal divisions" in Taiwan.

Those publicly critical of the government - from teachers to millionaire moguls like British citizen Jimmy Lai - faced trials and eventually, jail.

Last year, three other women — Sil Lai Abrams, Sherri Abernathy and Wendy Carolina Franco — filed similar claims in New York against Simmons, alleging he failed to pay about $3 million as part of confidential settlement agreements he reached with them in 2023.