New Taiwan president swings at China—but pulls punches—in first speech
TAIPEI—Taiwan’s new president said the island democracy would serve as a “helmsman of global peace" under his watch in a carefully calibrated inauguration speech reflecting his delicate status at the fulcrum of tensions between the U.S. and China. With Beijing and Washington both listening carefully, Lai Ching-te offered to keep Taiwan open to engagement with China.
At the same time, he pushed back with some gusto against Beijing’s territorial claims over Taiwan, which is officially known as the Republic of China. “We all know that only where you have sovereignty, do you have a country," Lai said on Monday to a large crowd outside Taiwan’s red brick Presidential Office Building, constructed when the island was under Japanese colonial rule. “It’s clear that the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other," he said.
The line drew a roar of applause from the crowd gathered on Monday to hear him speak outside Taiwan’s red brick Presidential Office Building, constructed when the island was under Japanese colonial rule. Lai won office in January with 40% of the vote in a three-way race, defeating two opposition candidates who campaigned on closer ties with China. He was previously vice president under Tsai Ing-wen, who was limited to two terms under Taiwan law.
Tsai, Taiwan’s first woman president, was credited with guiding one of the world’s most effective responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and forging close relations with the U.S. and other allies amid unrelenting Chinese pressure. Lai said his government would “unapologetically maintain the status quo" established under Tsai.
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