President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan will be inaugurated tomorrow, expected to focus on maintaining the status quo rather than pushing for independence.

“Media ‘Focus on Maintaining ‘Moderation, Confidence, Responsibility, Unity’ in Inaugural Address”
Loss of ruling party’s position and weakening legislative control pose challenges…possibility of intense political battle between ruling and opposition parties,
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Taiwan’s President-elect Lai Ching-te and new cabinet members
(Taipei Reuters = Yonhap News) President-elect Lai Ching-te of Taiwan, who will officially take office next month, held a press conference in Taipei on the 25th to announce the new cabinet. On this day, President-elect Lai suggested dialogue between the ruling parties in both Taiwan and China. April 25, 2024 [email protected],
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, ‘(Taipei-Beijing = Yonhap News) Kim Cheol-moon, a correspondent, Jung Sung-jo, a special envoy – Lai Ching-te, Taiwan\’s President-elect, will be officially inaugurated as the 16th President of Taiwan on the 20th and begin his 4-year term.’,
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, ” Since Lai is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) known for its ‘pro-US independence’ leaning, how he will navigate the cross-strait (China-Taiwan) relations in the future is a matter of international interest.”,
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, ” While in the past, China explored the possibility of dialogue with the DPP during the Chen Shui-bian and Tsai Ing-wen administrations, it continues to maintain a stance of ‘divisive force’ towards President-elect Lai even after the election.”,
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, ‘ Therefore, how Lai will specify his stance on cross-strait policies in his inaugural address is expected to be a crucial indicator for assessing the future direction of cross-strait relations over the next 4 years.’,
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, ” According to reports from Taiwan’s Liberty Times on the 19th, Lai has selected ‘Moderation, Confidence, Responsibility, Unity’ as key words for his inaugural address, and he plans to focus on maintaining the ‘status quo’ of the DPP government’s ‘Democratic, Peaceful, Prosperous’ policy line.”,
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, ” An anonymous official from the incoming Taiwanese government particularly explained that for ‘Moderation,’ it means continuing Taiwan’s role as ‘indispensable’ in the global economy and geopolitics, building on the foundation of the Tsai administration.”,
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, ‘ The official emphasized, “Lai Ching-te will modernize Taiwan\’s defense while continuing plans for independent fighter jets and warships, our goal is to prevent conflicts from occurring indefinitely.”‘,
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, ” Media outlets in the Chinese-speaking region, such as Hong Kong’s Ming Pao and Taiwan’s United Daily News, have reported that President-elect Lai is expected to emphasize a choice that aligns closely with ‘maintaining the status quo’ at his inauguration last week.”,
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, ‘ Earlier, President-elect Lai outlined the four pillars of strengthening Taiwan\’s defense, economy, democracy, and maintaining the status quo in an op-ed in the American newspaper Wall Street Journal in July of last year.’,
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Intense political battle between ruling and opposition parties at the Taiwan Legislature on the 17th
[AFP=Yonhap News],
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, “Experts in Taiwan consider President-elect Lai as an icon of ‘Taiwan independence,’ but due to unfavorable political terrain and domestic public opinion, the likelihood of actively pursuing independence is not significant.”,
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, ‘ In February, experts at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies and the Peace and Security Studies Institute at Chungnam National University pointed out in a report that 59.5% of Taiwanese people want to ‘maintain the status quo’ and 74.4% want to ‘expand exchanges between the two sides’ based on the results of last year\’s opinion survey, stating that “as the current situation is already seen as equivalent to independence, people prefer to maintain stability.”‘,
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, ‘ They speculated that “the Lai Ching-te government will focus on domestic livelihood issues, seek collaboration with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the second opposition party, continue the trend of ‘de-sinicization’ like the Tsai Ing-wen government, and strengthen relations with the United States.”‘,
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, ” President-elect Lai faces not only cross-strait relations but also a challenging domestic political landscape.”,
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, ‘ In the legislative election held concurrently with the presidential election in January, the DPP fell short with 51 seats, surrendering the position of the leading party in the legislature to the Kuomintang (52 seats).’,
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, ‘ The second opposition party, the Taiwan People’s Party with 8 seats, held the majority casting vote, and the DPP, which competed against the Kuomintang on various issues, can no longer operate the legislature on its own.’,
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, ‘ In fact, the new Taiwan Legislative Yuan, which was convened in February, has already shown cracks before the new government took office.’,
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, ” On the 17th, the Kuomintang attempted to expedite the passage of the so-called ‘Five Major Legislative Reforms’ bill, which aims to expand the authority of the legislature and empower the government oversight function in cooperation with the Taiwan People’s Party, leading to fierce physical clashes with DPP lawmakers who tried to stop it.”,
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, ‘ There are many observations that similar scenes could be reproduced in the future due to differences in political views on major issues such as pension reform and energy policy amidst the strained relations between the ruling and opposition parties.’,
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China’s President Xi Jinping meets with former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing
(Beijing Xinhua = Yonhap News) Xi Jinping, China\’s national president (right), shakes hands with Ma Ying-jeou, former President of Taiwan, in Beijing on the 10th. The two met on the same day as the US-Japan summit. 2024.04.11 [email protected],
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, ‘[email protected]’,
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