President-elect William Lai (賴清德) would express “concrete” goodwill toward China in his inauguration speech today, and call for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to pursue peace, a senior official briefed on the matter said.
Lai would say that Taiwan will continue to be a promoter of regional peace and stability, the official said.
Lai, 64, is detested by Beijing as a “separatist.”
Photo: AFP
In his speech, the incoming president would pledge to maintain the “status quo” with China “neither being overbearing nor self-effacing,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He would call for both sides of the Strait to pursue peace and common prosperity, the official added.
Lai would also mention that China has ramped up military and diplomatic pressures on Taiwan.
Photo: Screen grab from the Presidential Office’s Flickr page
Last night, Lai told foreign dignitaries at the Taipei Guest House that the inauguration ceremony would be a testament of Taiwan’s solid democracy.
Referring to earlier comments from Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Lai said that tomorrow’s peaceful transfer of power would be a “milestone for Taiwan’s democracy.”
“It is also based on a solid foundation laid by the people of Taiwan over the decades,” Lai said at a party for foreign guests who are visiting for the inauguration.
Thanks to the efforts of Taiwanese and support from foreign friends, the nation has made great progress politically, economically and socially, he said.
He vowed to “continue to walk on the path of democracy and ... continue to engage with the world and make Taiwan stronger,” while calling for the guests’ continued support.
Earlier in the day, Lai and vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) took visiting leaders of diplomatic allies to experience traditional shrimp fishing and enjoy local cuisine in Taipei.
Lai and Hsiao were joined by Eswatini’s King Mswati III, Marshallese President Hilda Heine, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr and Paraguayan President Santiago Pena Palacios at a shrimp pond.
They were also joined by Belizean Prime Minister John Briceno, Saint Lucian Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, Tuvaluan Prime Minister Feleti Teo, Saint Kitts and Nevis Deputy Prime Minister Geoffrey Hanley and Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Ramiro Martinez.
King Mswati III and Heine took first and second place respectively for catching the most shrimps, each winning a golden fishing rod.
A source said the shrimping event was the second Lai has hosted since taking office as vice president in May 2020. He hosted a similar outing in 2021 with the Australian, British, Indian, Japanese and US representatives to Taiwan.
The “culturally creative” event was meant to enhance relationships with the nation’s diplomatic allies and friendly nations in a fun way, an unnamed source said.
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in