MORE DEFENCE SPENDING
With only 12 allies, Taipei lacks diplomatic recognition on the world stage.
But it has its own government, military and currency, and the majority of the 23 million population see themselves as having a distinct Taiwanese identity, separate from the Chinese.
Following in Tsai’s footsteps, Lai is expected to boost defence spending and strengthen ties with governments, especially the US, Taiwan’s key partner and weapons supplier.
Ahead of Lai’s inauguration, Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, which handles cross-strait issues, called “Taiwan independence and peace in the strait … like water and fire”.
Lai has made overtures to resume high-level communications with China, which Beijing severed in 2016 when Tsai took power, but experts say they are likely to be rebuffed.
China is, however, having to “thread a very thin needle here”, said RAND Corporation’s Kuo, who is director of its Taiwan Policy Initiative.
“On the one hand, they do want to say that the DPP, you know, if you decide to declare independence, if you do things across our lines, we will respond with military force. But the more they do that, the more they undermine the political stature of KMT,” he said.
“And so for China, they’re trying to do this sort of carrot and stick approach. On the one hand, trying to reach out to the KMT. On the other hand, trying to undermine the support of the DPP.”
Lai’s domestic challenges loom large too, given his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its parliamentary majority in the January election, which could make it difficult for him to push through his policies.
On Friday, lawmakers punched, shoved and screamed at each other in a bitter dispute over parliamentary reforms the opposition is pushing. There could be more fighting on Tuesday when lawmakers resume their discussions.
