During his first six months in office, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te faced several challenges, both at home and from an increasingly aggressive China. What lies ahead for the remainder of his term?
On this episode of Zoom In Zoom Out, TaiwanPlus reporter Reece Ayers sits down with Lii Wen, Presidential Office spokesperson, to review Lai’s first six months in office and look ahead to future cross-strait and U.S.-Taiwan relations.
(Editor's Note: the interview was recorded on Dec. 18, 2024.)
On this episode of Zoom In Zoom Out, TaiwanPlus reporter Reece Ayers sits down with Lii Wen, Presidential Office spokesperson, to review Lai’s first six months in office and look ahead to future cross-strait and U.S.-Taiwan relations.
(Editor's Note: the interview was recorded on Dec. 18, 2024.)
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, and welcome to Zoom In Zoom Out, your global look at news from Taiwan. I'm Reece
00:17Ayres. Taiwan's President Lai Ching-de has been
00:20in office for just over six months. His presidency has already faced several domestic challenges
00:26amid rising regional tensions. Most recently, in December, China's military mobilised the
00:32largest naval fleet in three decades to surround Taiwan, following Lai's visit to the Pacific
00:38Islands with stopovers in Hawaii and Guam. To discuss the past, present and future of
00:45Lai's presidency, I'm joined today by Lee Wen, a spokesperson for the Presidential Office
00:51here in Taipei. Thanks for joining us, Lee Wen.
00:54Hi, Reece. Thanks for having me. Let's first zoom in on Taiwan domestically.
00:59It's been a challenging start for President Lai Ching-de. At the beginning of his term
01:04in May, he went into an opposition-led legislature. They were passing controversial bills that
01:10brought thousands out to the streets of Taipei in protest. And more recently, we've seen
01:16more controversies over the amendments to the recall law. So, what have the past six
01:21months been like for President Lai, and how is he handling these challenges?
01:26Well, the President has certainly addressed several important issues throughout his first
01:31six months in office. For example, the Presidential Office set up three special committees on
01:38important issues that the President personally devotes a lot of his attention to. These include
01:47the Committee on Climate Change, the Committee on Promoting a Healthy Taiwan, as well as
01:52a newly formed Committee on Hull-of-Society Defense Resilience. And these issues are an
01:59opportunity for the Presidential Office to communicate with the public and to set the
02:03agenda on issues of lasting importance for both domestically and internationally.
02:10On the domestic side, President Lai fended off challenges from Taiwan's legislature on
02:16controversial bills on expanding the powers given to the legislature, and the President
02:21requested for a constitutional interpretation in which the grand justices in the Constitutional
02:27Court declared many of these controversial bills as unconstitutional. On the international
02:33side, President Lai just returned in early December from a fruitful and productive trip
02:40to Taiwan's diplomatic allies in the Pacific, including the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and
02:46Palau, along with transit stops in Hawaii and Guam.
02:50So it was his first international trip as President. Why is it important for Taiwan's
02:54Presidents to make these kinds of trips, and what was the significance of his stopovers?
03:00Well, President Lai's recent trip to our diplomatic allies in the Pacific and his stopovers in
03:08Hawaii and Guam were very positively received from both our international partners and domestically
03:15as well. The state visit attained several important goals, including, one, deepening
03:21our ties with our diplomatic allies. The visit was an opportunity to showcase Taiwan's contributions
03:27to international development, especially those that utilize Taiwan's technological expertise.
03:34For example, in the Marshall Islands, President Lai visited a hospital which utilizes Taiwanese
03:40AI and telemedicine technology, and the hospital has a long-term cooperation project with medical
03:46staff from Taiwan. And in Tuvalu, President Lai reaffirmed support for a new submarine
03:51cables project, which is jointly carried out by Taiwan and the U.S., Australia, Japan,
03:59our democratic partners in the region.
04:01On the question of the significance of the President's stopovers in Hawaii and Guam,
04:07and this brings us to the second goal of the trip, which is to enhance global voices that
04:11support Taiwan, the President interacted with political leaders on both the congressional
04:16and the local levels. President Lai also engaged in phone conversations with many important
04:22political leaders in the U.S. from both the Republican and Democratic parties. So I think
04:28this shows bipartisan support from the U.S. to increase engagement with Taiwan, and it's
04:36always been Taiwan's priority to ensure that support for Taiwan remains an issue of unity
04:43in the U.S. instead of an issue of political contention.
04:47We'll come back to the U.S. a bit later. Just a bit more on China's response to Lai's most
04:52recent trip. China's presence in the region around that time was undeniable. Are these
04:57kinds of trips worth the risk for Taiwan?
05:02So China's recent large-scale military deployments and their military activities in the entire
05:09region are blatant disruptions to security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. President
05:14Lai's routine overseas visits and friendly interactions with our diplomatic allies are
05:20no excuse or should not become a pretext for China to engage in military provocations.
05:28After all, Taiwan has the right to engage with our global partners, and Taiwan has the
05:33right to make global contributions to the international community.
05:38One aspect to note is that China's recent military maneuvers are on an extremely large
05:44scale and scope in the region. They not only target waters surrounding Taiwan, but also
05:51extend towards waters around the entire first island chain, including waters near the Philippines
05:56and Japan, and even with naval deployments between the first island chain and second
06:01island chains.
06:03So China might not call its exercise an exercise, but its actions already disrupt global peace.
06:10When we look at Putin's actions in the war in Ukraine, Putin also refrained from calling
06:18his invasion of Ukraine a war. So I think actions are more important than words. We
06:24urge China to uphold its regional responsibilities and engage in peaceful interactions with Taiwan.
06:31It's not the first big military action we've seen around Taiwan. Is this the new normal
06:38now during Lai's presidency?
06:40The president has repeatedly stated Taiwan's willingness to engage in dialogue and exchanges
06:45with China on the condition of parity and dignity. And Taiwan is more than willing to
06:50engage in exchanges that are healthy and orderly between the two sides of the strait.
06:57That being said, Taiwan cannot engage in dialogue with China while military provocations are
07:04simultaneously taking place. Taiwan cannot engage in exchanges with China if there are
07:10grey zone coercions taking place at the same time. If a person wants to start a conversation
07:16with you and that person has a weapon in their hand, then the conversation might not begin
07:23smoothly.
07:27Let's zoom out now. We've had a good look at his first six months in office. Now let's
07:32look ahead to the future of Taiwan and China. Taipei has just hosted the Twin Cities Forum
07:40with officials from Shanghai coming over. That facilitates local level dialogue between
07:45Taipei and Shanghai specifically. But what's the Lai administration doing at the national
07:51level to safeguard Taiwan, not just militarily, but also by engaging more with China diplomatically?
07:59The president has always adhered to his Four Pillars of Peace Action Plan, which includes
08:04a comprehensive approach on maintaining peace and stability in the region. We hope to convey
08:09the message to the world that Taiwan is a force for peace and stability, and Taiwan
08:16intends to adamantly maintain the status quo. And we refrain from engaging in provocations,
08:24but we will not bow down to pressure. Taiwan has not given up on any opportunities to engage
08:31in increased exchanges and dialogue with the Chinese side, including the fact that Taiwan
08:40is very open to welcoming Chinese tourists, and Taiwan is open to welcoming Chinese students
08:48studying in Taiwan for degrees instead of only on a short-term exchange basis. However,
08:55the Chinese side has not given the green light to pursue these further avenues of exchange.
09:02Let's move on from China. Let's talk more about Taiwan-US relations that have been growing
09:07over the years. Are there any concerns about how that relationship might change? Given
09:14Trump's comments about Taiwan, he's mentioned Taiwan stealing the US's chip industry. He's
09:19also said that Taiwan needs to pay more for its defence to the US.
09:26We remain confident about the strength of Taiwan-US relations, which has been built
09:30upon decades of friendly interactions between Taiwan and the US. And the most important
09:37component is that Taiwan receives bipartisan support from the US. We are quite confident
09:43about deepening various ties and various aspects of cooperation between Taiwan and
09:50the US, including on our security, including economic ties. In the year 2010, around 80
09:56percent of Taiwan's outbound investments went to China. But when you look at the statistics
10:01for 2023, only 11 percent of Taiwan's outbound investments went to China, whereas over 40
10:07percent of Taiwan's outbound investments went to the US. So when you look at the US-Taiwan
10:13partnership, it's not just a partnership based on common values and ideals. It's actually
10:18a partnership based on common interests and common economic benefits for both countries.
10:25When we look at the incoming Trump administration, I think we see very positive messages so far
10:32when we look at the cabinet nominations in the incoming Trump team. For example, in the
10:37areas of national security, we see many friendly voices that have supported Taiwan publicly
10:43over the years. If the saying that personnel is policy is true, then I think policy towards
10:50Taiwan are on a terrific start. Even if that means Taiwan potentially being forced to pay
10:59more to the US for defence? So when it comes to security, the rule is really simple. We
11:06must help ourselves before others can help us. Taiwan must bear the most responsibility
11:12for its own security, and Taiwan does not take any foreign military assistance for granted.
11:19However, if other countries decide to help us and engage in issues of defence cooperation,
11:28then Taiwan will also proactively seek opportunities to strengthen our defence through joint efforts
11:34with other countries. When you compare Taiwan's defence budget from 2016 to the year 2024,
11:42Taiwan's defence budget has already made an 80% increase. This shows our determination
11:47to protect ourselves and to strengthen our defence and resilience. We are a democracy,
11:53so all our defence budget needs to be passed by our parliament through careful deliberations.
12:00However, we think that there is the will and the public support to continue to increase
12:06our defence budget consecutively year by year. Taiwan has 12 remaining official diplomatic
12:12allies, but they have a history, these allies, of being coaxed away by China. What lies strategy
12:20to maintaining those remaining allies? What does Taiwan really get out of those relationships?
12:26Taiwan has been isolated and bullied and repressed by China in international events
12:32for such a long time, and it's usually the case in which our diplomatic allies voice
12:39support for Taiwan and followed by other democracies, such as the US and European countries or Japan
12:45and other Asian democracies. So the diplomatic allies play an extremely important role for
12:52Taiwan, and this administration intends to continue the international development projects
13:00that can create a lasting positive impact for our diplomatic allies and even for the
13:06world. This is also in stark contrast with the Chinese approach to poaching our diplomatic
13:13allies, which we've seen publicly documented cases in which China engaged in personal briberies
13:20of corrupt officials and local politicians, or manipulative tactics used on the local
13:27politicians in various countries. And we believe that Taiwan's methods for international development
13:36can truly take care of the well-being of the region.
13:40Finally, I guess in one sentence, where does President Lai see Taiwan being in three and
13:46a half years at the end of his first term?
13:49Taiwan will become more prosperous, more secure, and Taiwan will continue to build trust with
13:56our international friends and partners.
13:59Well, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you for your insights into Lai's past,
14:06present and future as the President of Taiwan.
14:08Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
14:10This has been Zoom In Zoom Out. For more from Taiwan Plus, you can follow us on social media.
14:15But for now, goodbye and see you next time.