Taiwan's new president warns China to stop military intimidation in inauguration speech

Thousands of people gathered for President William Lai's inauguration ceremony. He takes over from Tsai Ing-wen who lead Taiwan for eight years.

Taiwan’s new President Lai Ching-te has urged China to stop its military intimidation against the self-governed island in his inauguration speech.

As he was sworn in on Monday, Mr Lai used his 30-minute speech to broadcast a message of peace and declare a “glorious era of Taiwan’s democracy has arrived.”

But he warned: "As China has not yet given up its use of force to invade Taiwan, we should understand that even if we fully accept China’s proposition and give up our sovereignty, China’s attempt to annex Taiwan will not disappear.”

Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and has been upping its threats to annex it by force if necessary.

Mr Lai emerged victorious over rivals in the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party and the Taiwan People’s Party in a January election.

It marks a a historic third consecutive term for the island’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Mr Lai takes over from Tsai Ing-wen, who led Taiwan through eight years of economic and social development despite the Covid pandemic and China’s escalating military threats.

During Ms Tsai’s tenure, Taiwan became the first society in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, oversaw a controversial pension and labour reform and extended the military conscription length to one year.

Ms Tsai’s leadership during the pandemic split public opinion, with most admiring Taiwan’s initial ability to keep the virus largely outside its borders but criticising the lack of investment in rapid testing as the pandemic progressed.

His successor accepted congratulations from fellow politicians and delegations from the 12 nations that maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, as well as politicians from the US, Japan and some European states.

Mr Lai promised he will build on Tsai’s efforts to strengthen ties with the US, which doesn’t formally recognize Taiwan as a country but is bound by its own laws to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

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