Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te has called for peace and dialogue with China as he marked his first year in office, saying 'peace is priceless' and war has 'no winners'. His comments come amid increased Chinese military activity and growing political division at home.
'It is the aggressor who undermines peace,' Lai told reporters after his formal address on Tuesday. 'I am deeply committed to peace, because peace is priceless, and in war there are no winners.' He urged Beijing to restart government-to-government dialogue on equal terms, adding that Taiwan's pursuit of peace 'must not be naive'.
China's official Xinhua news agency responded by accusing Lai of 'deliberately escalating' cross-Strait tensions and pursuing 'Taiwan independence'. In recent weeks, Chinese planes and ships have entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone in larger numbers than usual, with an average of 20 aircraft and 11 naval vessels per day.
In his anniversary speech, Lai focused on domestic pledges to reduce carbon emissions, respond to US tariffs, and address political turmoil. He notably avoided direct mention of China's annexation plans, a shift analysts attributed to anxiety over possible US-China talks on Taiwan's status following trade de-escalation between Beijing and Washington.
Amid worsening political deadlock, Lai announced he would offer national security briefings to the leader of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party, which controls a legislative majority alongside another party. The KMT welcomed the move as 'a small step' but said more action was needed to end partisan conflict.
