Taiwan presidential candidate William Lai pitches peace with China

Taiwan presidential frontrunner William Lai wrote said on Wednesday that he could maintain peace with China if elected, reiterating his willingness for talks without preconditions and a pledge to boost defences.

Writing a piece for Washington Post, Lai, Taiwan’s current vice president and the candidate for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said that he has consistently led the majority of opinion polls ahead of elections.

He said that despite facing military and economic challenges from China, including its regular aerial incursions where Chinese aircraft enter the Taiwan Median Strait, his top priorities remained pragmatism and consistency.

“I will support the cross-strait status quo – which is in the best interests of both the Republic of China, as Taiwan is formally known, and the international community. I will never rule out the possibility of dialogue without preconditions, based on the principles of reciprocity and dignity,” he added.

Meanwhile, Lai also plans to continue current President Tsai Ing-wen’s policies to boost Taiwan’s defences like spending more on the military.

“I will seek greater cooperation with partners and allies, particularly in training, force restructuring, civil defence and information sharing,” he wrote.

Lai is expected to visit the United States next month, according to diplomatic sources, as presidential candidates traditionally do, to discuss their policy agenda.

The United States is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier.

Tsai has pushed for talks with China but to no avail. Beijing views the current president as a separatist leader who refuses to accept China’s claim on Taiwan and its rhetoric of ‘one China’. She says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.

Lai angered China in 2018 while he was premier, telling parliament he was a “Taiwan independence worker” and that his position was that Taiwan was a sovereign, independent country – a red line for Beijing.

Both Tsai and Lai say that the Republic of China, Taiwan’s formal name, is already an independent state, despite only 13 countries formally recognising it.

The defeated republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists, who established the People’s Republic of China.

With inputs from Reuters

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