Taiwan’s new president urges China to ‘face reality’ and work toward peace

Taiwan’s new president urged China on Monday to “face reality,” end its military incursions across the Taiwan Strait, and work with the self-governed island – as equals – to prevent a war that both sides agree would devastate the world.

“China’s military actions and gray-zone coercion are considered the greatest strategic challenges to global peace and stability,” President Lai Ching-te said in his inaugural address to the nation and visiting dignitaries, soon after he and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s former envoy to the United States, took their oaths of office.

“I … want to call on China to stop its political attacks and military threats against Taiwan,” Dr. Lai said, drawing cheers and applause from a large crowd gathered outside the flag-festooned, baroque-style Presidential Office Building in downtown Taipei.

Striking a tone both confident and pragmatic, Dr. Lai reaffirmed his determination to strengthen Taiwan’s vibrant democracy while maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait – a delicate balancing act handled deftly by his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen. Taiwan’s first female president, Ms. Tsai served two four-year terms, the maximum allowed by the constitution. Dr. Lai was Taiwan’s vice president under Ms. Tsai, and his election victory in January marked a historic third term for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

An enthusiastic crowd greeted Dr. Lai’s speech. “I can feel his firm attitude – I like it,” says Wang Shuyun, a Taipei doctor.

“He gives me a lot of confidence. He’s pragmatic and he can lead Taiwan into a new situation,” says Weng Weichien, a civil servant, moments after a fly-over by Air Force jets issuing streams of multicolored smoke.

De-facto independent?

Dr. Lai said Taiwan’s government is ready to hold dialogues and boost cooperation with China – offering to start by resuming cross-strait tourism, and allowing Chinese students to enroll in universities in Taiwan. “I hope that China will face the reality of the Republic of China’s existence, respect the choices of the people in Taiwan, and in good faith, choose dialogue over confrontation,” Dr. Lai said.

But he also warned Taiwan’s 23 million citizens that in pursuing peace with China, they “must not harbor any delusions” about Beijing’s long-standing aim of uniting Taiwan with the mainland – by force, if necessary. “So long as China refuses to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, all of us in Taiwan ought to understand that even if we accept the entirety of China’s position and give up our sovereignty, China’s ambition to annex Taiwan will not simply disappear,” he said.

China’s Communist Party-run state has never ruled Taiwan, but has claimed the island as part of China’s territory since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s revolutionary Red Army defeated Gen. Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces in the Chinese civil war. General Chiang and his troops retreated to Taiwan, relocating the Republic of China’s government – led by the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT) – to Taipei.

Beijing responded to Dr. Lai’s inauguration speech by reiterating its position on Taiwan. “The day will come when China is completely reunified,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on Monday. “Taiwan independence,” he said, is a “dead end.”

Beijing has condemned as “despicable” Dr. Lai, who once called himself “a practical worker for Taiwan independence.” Still, experts don’t expect any radical moves from Dr. Lai. The DPP position is that Taiwan is de-facto independent, so declaring independence is not necessary.

Dr. Lai “will most certainly avoid provoking China with moves toward Taiwanese independence,” says Lin Chong-Pin, an expert on cross-strait relations and a former Taiwan defense minister.

Meanwhile, China has recently shown signs of fine-tuning its approach to Taiwan, launching “a new charm offensive” aimed at Taiwanese people, while maintaining a hard line with the DPP, he says.

China’s response

China’s “strategy has shifted to a soft hand, which actively engages a broad cross-section of Taiwanese society … as distinct from the ruling party DPP,” Mr. Lin says. For example, China has begun inviting groups of Taiwanese students, veterans, college students, and neighborhood officials to the mainland, he says.

Beijing has also indicated that despite Dr. Lai’s victory, it sees an opportunity with the relatively strong January election showing by the opposition KMT, which historically backed Taiwan’s unification with mainland China. The DPP “cannot represent the mainstream public opinion on the island,” according to a January statement by the Taiwan Affairs Office of China’s State Council.

During the election, Beijing backed KMT candidate Hou Yu-ih. Although Mr. Hou came in second – with 33.5% of the vote compared with Dr. Lai’s 40% – the KMT gained the highest number of seats in Taiwan’s parliament, depriving the DPP of its legislative majority.

Since the election, the KMT has been actively working to undo DPP policies, and is in a position to block new initiatives by Dr. Lai, says Nathan Batto, Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica. “Lai will be able to run the government, but he will not be able to pursue an ambitious new agenda unless the KMT and/or TPP [Taiwan People’s Party] agree to it,” Dr. Batto says.

In April, Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with former Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou, of the KMT, in Beijing. “Compatriots across the Strait have always been one family,” Mr. Xi told Mr. Ma, stressing the historical, cultural, and blood ties between Taiwan and mainland China. “No force … can separate us,” he said.

Beijing “has tried to signal that their approach to Taiwan is working … that peaceful reunification remains possible,” says Amanda Hsiao, Senior China Analyst for the International Crisis Group.

“China has been using a smaller and perhaps a sharper stick, and is dangling some carrots,” she says.

President Lai underscored on Monday that, in dealing with China, Taiwan would “neither yield nor provoke.” He stressed that Taiwan’s strength grows through its solidarity with other democracies, which together can combat disinformation and heighten deterrence.

Yi-ling Huang, a real estate agent who watched the inauguration on television, says Dr. Lai is striking the right balance. “He is not against the mainland but he wants us to be strong and not easily bullied,” she says. “He wants the world to see Taiwan, and what Taiwan can contribute to the world.”