Taiwan’s President Says Island Wants Peace With China but Must Prepare for War

President Lai Ching-te said he welcomes talks with China, but Taiwan has to strengthen its defense and economic presence in the global market.

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te delivers an address to mark the first anniversary of his inauguration at the Presidential Office in Taipei on May 20, 2025. Cheng Yu-chen/AFP via Getty Images

Taiwan wants to have peace with China, but the island has to prepare for war in order to deter a war, President Lai Ching-te told the press on May 20 after delivering a speech marking his first year in office.

Lai told reporters that Taiwan is “happy to” have dialogues and exchanges with China as an equal partner.

Beijing responded by saying that any discussions must be based on its “One China” principle, which claims that the communist regime is the only legitimate ruler on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never governed Taiwan but views the self-ruled democracy as a renegade province. It pledged to “unite” Taiwan with the mainland and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of using force to absorb the island.

Since Lai took office last year, the Chinese regime has stepped up its rhetoric against those it calls Taiwan separatists and ramped up military and patrol activities in the Taiwan Strait. According to U.S. intelligence, Xi ordered the Chinese military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027.

Lai has also taken a tougher stance on the Chinese regime. The president vowed last year to maintain the status quo, saying China and Taiwan “do not belong to one another.” In March, he declared the communist-ruled neighbor a “foreign hostile force” and unveiled a series of measures to counter Chinese infiltration and espionage activities in Taiwan.

On May 20, the president announced in his speech that the Taiwanese government will set up a sovereign wealth fund, build a national-level investment platform, and expand its presence in the global market. He said Taiwan’s democratic values are “the most significant mark of distinction” between it and “authoritarian regimes.”

Answering questions after the speech, Lai said Taiwan is “passionate about peace” and has been friendly to others.

“I, too, am determined to pursue peace, because peace is priceless, and there’s no winner in war,” he said. “However, we can seek peace, but can’t be deluded about it.”

The president said Taipei has to strengthen its defense and ties with allies.

“I also reiterate here—as long as there is reciprocal dignity, Taiwan is happy to have exchanges and cooperation with China, use exchanges to replace hemming in, dialogue to replace confrontation, and progress toward peace and co-prosperity,” he said.

Responding to Lai’s remarks on May 20, Chen Binhua, spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said that Beijing “resolutely opposes ‘Taiwan independence’ secession and interference of external forces.”

William Chung, assistant research fellow at Taiwan’s government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, recently told the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times that the problem is that the CCP can’t face the fact that the Republic of China exists in Taiwan.

Taiwan’s official name, the Republic of China, was the name of mainland China between 1912 and 1949, before the Kuomintang government lost the civil war to the CCP and was forced to retreat to Taiwan.

Chung said the CCP is feeling extra pressure after the U.S. Congress on May 5 passed the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarified the scope and meaning of United Nations Resolution 2758.

The CCP has claimed that Resolution 2758 affirms Taiwan as part of China. The Taiwan International Solidarity Act states that the resolution “established the representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations,” but “did not address the issue of representation of Taiwan and its people in the United Nations or any related organizations, nor did the resolution take a position on the relationship between the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan or include any statement pertaining to Taiwan’s sovereignty.”

Lai Jung-wei, chief executive of the Taiwan Inspiration Association, said Taiwan “surely can’t accept” the CCP’s claim that the “One China” means the People’s Republic of China.

He said there are three issues in the dispute between China and Taiwan.

“On the one hand, it involves the issue of national identity; on the other hand, it involves [Taiwan’s] identity as a democracy,” he told The Epoch Times.

He said the third issue is about values; “socialism with Chinese characteristics” is “obviously different” from the values in Taiwan and elsewhere.

Luo Ya contributed to this report.