fredag 20. januar 2023

Don’t appease China, warns Taiwan’s likely presidential successor

Appeasing China will not bring peace, Taiwan’s vice-president has said, days after he was elected head of the ruling party in a move that makes him a prime presidential contender at the next election. William Lai, 63, is seen as a likely successor to President Tsai Ing-wen, who is barred from running again after her second four-year term ends in May 2024.

Lai has been more outspoken on Taiwanese independence than Tsai, and he is openly loathed by Beijing for that reason. “Appeasement cannot buy peace,” Lai said on Wednesday in his first comments on China since assuming the Democratic Progressive party leadership.