Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has called on the public to unite in defending the island’s democracy, declaring that Taiwan must never become part of China amid growing pressure from Beijing.
Speaking at the annual convention of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Sunday, Lai urged party members to stand together against what he described as China’s “red terror” and warned that Taiwan must remain vigilant despite living in peaceful times. Cross-strait relations have remained highly sensitive, with tensions continuing over Taiwan’s political status and Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
Lai said China has increasingly used what he described as “legal warfare”, citing Beijing’s newly introduced ethnic unity law, which he claimed could provide legal grounds for China to pursue action against individuals outside its borders.
Taiwanese authorities have expressed concern that the legislation could be used to target people accused of supporting Taiwan’s independence, although China has rejected such criticism. Beijing’s legal system does not have jurisdiction in Taiwan.
“I expect members of our party to stand on the front lines, unite as one, and jointly oppose the threat posed by China’s ‘red terror’ to Taiwanese society,” Lai said while addressing delegates in Taiwanese, also known as Hokkien, instead of Mandarin.
He also stressed that Taiwan’s democratic system and freedoms must be protected at all costs.
“We must work together to safeguard our democratic and free way of life, and never allow ‘democratic Taiwan’ to become ‘China’s Taiwan’,” he said.
Lai, who also serves as DPP chairman, reiterated his long-standing position that Taiwan is already an independent country under its constitutional name, the Republic of China, and is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China.
“Regardless of ethnicity or when someone arrived here, anyone who identifies with Taiwan is a master of this country. Taiwan’s future must be decided by its 23 million people,” he added.
The Republic of China government relocated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War to Mao Zedong’s Communist forces, who established the People’s Republic of China on the mainland. Since then, neither side has formally recognised the other, and no peace treaty has ever been signed to officially end the conflict.
Lai said Taiwan has remained resilient over the past decade despite facing military pressure, diplomatic isolation, disinformation campaigns and what he described as China’s “authoritarian expansion”.
“Taiwan has shown the world that democracy is not a weakness. Democracy is our strength,” he said.
China has consistently rejected Lai’s calls for dialogue and has repeatedly labelled him a “separatist”. Beijing has yet to respond to his latest remarks.
