Marking his first year in office, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te delivered a tempered yet resolute message on Tuesday, calling for peace and dialogue with China amid heightened cross-Strait tensions and growing political friction at home.
In a press conference following his formal address, President Lai reaffirmed Taiwan’s commitment to peace while cautioning against naïveté in the face of Chinese aggression. “Peace is priceless, and in war there are no winners,” Lai said. “It is the aggressor who undermines peace. Taiwan is a peace-loving nation, and our society values goodwill. However, whilst our pursuit of peace is sincere, it must not be naive.”
Lai urged Beijing to resume dialogue on equal footing, calling for communication to replace confrontation. “Using exchanges to replace hemming in, dialogue to replace confrontation,” he stated, in a direct appeal to China’s leadership.
The remarks come as Taiwan faces near-daily incursions into its air defense identification zone by Chinese military aircraft and naval vessels. According to Taiwan’s defense ministry, an average of 20 Chinese warplanes and 11 naval and coastguard ships have been detected around the island daily in recent weeks.
In anticipation of Lai’s speech, Taiwanese officials had warned that China could respond with military drills or psychological operations aimed at undermining public morale. As of Monday, Taiwan’s coast guard cautioned that Beijing could escalate “political warfare” in reaction to the anniversary.
In its response, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency accused Lai of “deliberately escalating” tensions and pursuing “Taiwan independence” for personal and partisan gain. “The Lai Ching-te administration has brazenly pursued ‘Taiwan independence,’ charging headlong down a path of division and confrontation,” Xinhua stated.
Notably, Lai’s formal speech refrained from directly mentioning China or its ambitions to annex Taiwan. Instead, he focused on domestic issues, including climate initiatives, plans to navigate U.S. trade pressures under a potential Trump administration, and strategies to address Taiwan’s internal political gridlock.
Political analyst Amanda Hsiao of the Eurasia Group suggested this omission may reflect concerns that Taiwan’s status could become a bargaining chip in future U.S.-China negotiations. “This uncertainty may be a factor for why Lai chose not to reiterate his views on the China threat in a high-profile speech,” Hsiao said.
Domestically, Lai faces mounting resistance from a legislature dominated by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), both of which have been critical of his administration’s China policy and accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of suppressing dissent.
In an effort to ease partisan tensions, Lai announced plans to provide national security briefings to opposition leaders, a move the KMT welcomed cautiously. “He’s finally taken a small step,” the KMT stated, “but he has much more to do.”
Lai’s government has also come under fire for its increasing scrutiny of Chinese-born residents and censorship of pro-Beijing rhetoric, measures his administration defends as necessary for national security.
As Taiwan continues to navigate a volatile geopolitical landscape and fraught domestic politics, Lai’s call for dialogue serves as both a diplomatic olive branch and a strategic warning: peace is the goal, but preparation is essential.
