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Taiwan’s new leader William Lai takes the helm, and a tougher line
- Beijing hits out at Taiwanese leader for sending ‘dangerous signals’ in his inauguration speech
- He made no mention of the 1992 ‘one China’ consensus and urged Beijing to stop intimidating the island
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Beijing slammed Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s inauguration speech on Monday as sending “dangerous signals”, saying it would “never tolerate any form of Taiwan independence separatist activities”.
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Lai, who was sworn in as the island’s new president alongside Vice-President Hsiao Bi-khim, delivered a speech that was tougher than that of his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, who is also from the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party.
Observers say Lai’s stance could lead to more tension across the Taiwan Strait even though Beijing – which has branded Lai as a “separatist” and “troublemaker” – has low expectations for his administration.
Lai’s inauguration marks an unprecedented third term for the DPP. However, unlike Tsai when she became president in 2016, Lai made no mention of the 1992 consensus in his address.
The consensus is a tacit agreement between Beijing and Taipei that there is one China but each side of the Taiwan Strait can have its own interpretation of what constitutes “China”.
Lai instead said Beijing had to “face the reality of the Republic of China’s existence” – using Taiwan’s official name – while “the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other”.
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