How Taiwan’s New President May Change His Country’s Tense Relationship With China

F-16s flew overhead, marching bands played, and singers entertained with cultural performances during Taiwan’s presidential inauguration on Monday.

The inauguration of President Lai Ching-te was “quite the party,” Asia analyst Michael Cunningham tells “The Daily Signal Podcast,” after attending the event in Taiwan.

The new president has a challenging job in front of him as the country continues to face threats of hostility from China.

Lai’s inaugural speech was overall “probably the most direct and the hardest-line inaugural address we’ve seen towards China yet,” says Cunningham, who serves as a research fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center. (Heritage founded The Daily Signal in 2014.)

The new president likely angered leaders in Beijing, according to Cunningham, when during the speech he said the Republic of China—Taiwan—and the People’s Republic of China are “not subordinate to each other.” While Cunningham calls this statement “common sense,” it is also “not something that you say generally if you’re the president of Taiwan” because China interprets this as a “two-China philosophy,” when China actually considers Taiwan a part of the mainland.

Ultimately, Cunningham says Lai is expected to seek to preserve the status quo between China and Taiwan.

Cunningham joins the show to discuss where the relationship between China and Taiwan stands and whether America’s relationship with Taiwan is expected to change under Lai’s presidency.

Listen to the podcast here