President-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inaugural address tomorrow would emphasize solidarity, steadfastness, confidence and responsibility as the themes of his administration, an incoming senior security official said yesterday.
Lai, who succeeds President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) after having been her vice president for the past four years, would have to deal with a China that has ramped up pressure on Taiwan — with almost daily military incursions near its airspace.
His inaugural address would sum up his vision for defending the nation’s democracy, peace and prosperity, said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Lai would underscore continuity with Tsai’s policy of raising the nation’s profile in the international community by contributing to overcoming global challenges, the official said.
The speech would recognize that political partisanship is likely to become persistent and would compound the dangers posed by Beijing’s relentless campaign of coercion toward Taiwan’s national sovereignty, they said.
Lai would emphasize the importance of solidarity in countering Beijing’s efforts to sow division and strife, and that the government would uphold policies supported by national consensus and focus on improving Taiwan, they said.
The incoming administration’s policymaking, as encapsulated in Lai’s “National Project of Hope” policy blueprints, would be directed at realizing the principles of democracy, peace and public good, they said.
Steadfastness would underline the administration’s desire to continue with the foundations laid by Tsai, aimed at transforming the nation into an indispensable agent of stability in regional security and the global economy, they said.
Lai’s theme of confidence refers to staying the course on the policy of developing resilience and innovation, and realizing the Taiwanese values of hard work, kindness and generosity in dealing with the world, they said.
The president-elect would assure the nation of his willingness to be accountable to Taiwanese and direct the government to act as a responsible member of the international community, they said.
He would say that Taiwan must contribute to solving global challenges in solidarity with the world and conduct its affairs with dignity, they said.
Lai also faces major domestic challenges after his Democratic Progressive Party lost its legislative majority in January’s elections.
Asked to elaborate on Lai’s strategy to deal with division and partisanship in government, the source said the president-elect would be diligent in communicating with the public on matters of state.
The administration has faith in the principle that Taiwanese know that their destinies are bound together and that individual survival is found in common security, they said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a political foundation based on the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today said during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Both sides of the Strait should plan and build institutionalized and sustainable mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation based on that foundation to make peaceful development across the Strait irreversible, she said. Peace is a shared moral value across the Strait, and both sides should move beyond political confrontation to seek institutionalized solutions to prevent war, she said. Mutually beneficial cross-strait relations are what the
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
RSS