Lai Ching-te took office as Taiwan’s new president on Monday morning. He took over from Tsai Ing-wen after serving as her vice-president for the past four years. Lai was sworn in at the presidential office, built during the Japanese colonial era, in central Taipei. According to a Reuters report, Lai's challenges in office will include an angry and deeply suspicious China that sees him as a "separatist".
However, Lai expressed goodwill towards China in his inauguration speech, and called for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to pursue peace, the report said.
China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province even as the latter proclaims sovereignty.
In his address, Lai mentioned “democracy” 31 times, a report in The Guardian noted, seeking to highlight the contrast between Taiwan and China.
Lai, 64, widely known by his English name William, wore a purple tie for his inauguration, representing a butterfly native to Taiwan. A yellow pin on his lapel symbolised mustard flowers, a common plant in fields across the island.
He received two seals symbolising his presidential power from the parliament speaker, the seal of the Republic of China and the seal of honour, both brought to Taiwan after the Republican government fled the mainland in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War to Mao Zedong's Communists, Reuters reported.
Complications With China
Relations between Taiwan and China have been tense with the latter not ruling out the use of force to bring the island under its control. The new president has offered talks, saying Beijing needs to respect the choice of Taiwanese people, Reuters reported.
"We also want to declare this to the world: Taiwan makes no concessions on democracy and freedom. Peace is the only option and prosperity is our goal for long-term peace and stability," the Reuters report quoted him as saying.
According to The Guardian, the Chinese social media platform Weibo blocked a hashtag featuring the name of Lai Ching-te on Monday.
“According to relevant laws, regulations, and policies, the content of this topic has not been displayed,” was the message users saw if they searched the hashtag Lai Ching-te on Weibo, an X-like platform, around 10.40 am. A hashtag bearing the name of outgoing Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen was also blocked.
Since Lai’s victory in January, Taiwan has faced ongoing pressure from China, including regular air force and navy activities near the island. Taiwan's defence ministry, in its daily report about Chinese military activities, said on Monday that six Chinese aircraft had crossed the Taiwan Strait's median line, which previously served as an unofficial boundary but China does not recognise, Reuters reported. At least one of the aircraft got within 43 nautical miles (80 km) of the northern Taiwanese port city of Keelung, the report added, citing the ministry.
Who Attended The Ceremony?
In the VIP section of the ceremony sat more than 600 people in delegations from multiple countries, including 11 of Taiwan’s 12 diplomatic allies. These included Paraguay President Santiago Pena. Former US officials sent by President Joe Biden, and lawmakers from countries including Japan, Germany and Canada were in attendance at the inauguration ceremony as well.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Lai, saying the United States looked forward to working with him "to advance our shared interests and values, deepen our longstanding unofficial relationship, and maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait".