Taiwan’s William Lai could signal friendlier cross-strait ties at inauguration, but Beijing isn’t getting its hopes up
- Analysts say Taiwanese president-elect William Lai Ching-te still has chance to make goodwill gesture towards mainland China when he is sworn in
- Beijing’s expectations for Lai’s speech are realistic, but observer says it should ‘give him more space’ before judging to make room for engagement
Lai is expected to deliver a wide-ranging speech that will set the tone for his presidential term. It is likely to cover key strategic issues including Taipei’s relations with Beijing and Washington.
Analysts sat that Beijing will closely watch the speech for signals despite its limited expectations.
“He used to call himself a pragmatic independence worker, so [Beijing] basically already had a general view about him,” said Zhu Songling, a professor at Beijing Union University’s Institute of Taiwan Studies.
“Beijing has zero, or even a negative level of trust in him … the situation might be very dangerous after he takes office.”
Beijing has already labelled Lai as a “troublemaker” and a “destroyer of cross-strait peace”. It has also called him a “stubborn Taiwan independence worker”, whereas Lai has characterised himself as a “pragmatic” one.
