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
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS