A summary of the cross-strait, security and energy passages of President Lai Ching-te's National Day speech. He welcomed US-China dialogue but said distortion of World War II history is unacceptable.
According to United Daily News (聯合報) and Liberty Times (自由時報) on Oct. 10, President Lai Ching-te said in his National Day speech that China continues to apply military and gray-zone pressure in an attempt to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. United Daily News reported that he said he was glad to see the US and China 'manage competition through dialogue,' but that regional peace requires a correct understanding of history, that distortion of World War II history is not acceptable, and that the right of the Taiwanese people to exist must be respected.
광고 문의 · 300×250He stressed that Taiwan 'cherishes peace but will not give up freedom; Taiwan is willing to engage but will not accept being diminished.' Liberty Times reported that he said Taiwan seeks neither hegemony nor dominance over others, has chosen peace as its mission and aims to be a reliable force for stability.
On defense, he cited defense reform, stronger asymmetric capabilities, a self-reliant defense industry and whole-of-society resilience. United Daily News reported that he said defense investment is meant to deter war rather than provoke, and that strengthening self-defense 'is not giving up dialogue.'
On energy, he set goals of stable power supply, energy security and net zero, with means including diversified green energy, storage, conservation and a more resilient grid. He said options will be assessed on scientific evidence, legal procedures and safety standards, that 'energy policy cannot rest on slogans,' and that options will not be excluded for ideological reasons. The speech gave no specific energy figures, according to the reports.
United Daily News reported that Hsu Yu-chen, secretary-general of the Kuomintang legislative caucus, criticized the speech for lacking concrete solutions to political and cross-strait challenges.
