President Lai Ching-te delivered a National Day speech on the 10th with the theme of "City on a Hill." Chen Shimin, associate professor of the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University, believed that the president's speech could find the three principles of maintaining stability, showing a clear attitude, and reaffirming the protection of peace. It also did not provide Beijing with an excuse to use military coercion or provocation against Taiwan.
Chen Shimin believes that "city on a mountain" means building a beautiful city on a high mountain. It is very dazzling and can be seen by everyone, so it becomes a model. President Lai used the metaphor of "city on a hill" to describe Taiwan, describing Taiwan's accumulated efforts over the past few decades. It has become a "city on a hill" around the world and has become a model for democracy, freedom and economic development.
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Chen Shimin said that three important principles can be discovered from the president’s speech. First, maintain stability. Whether it was last year’s speech on the 520th Inauguration Anniversary, the Double Ten Speech, or this year’s New Year’s Day and second anniversary speech, President Lai adopted a steady attitude, focusing on domestic affairs, demonstrating Taiwan’s role in the world, and handling cross-strait issues steadily and pragmatically. "President Lai's National Day speech did not provide Beijing with an excuse to use military coercion or provocation against Taiwan."
Second, show a clear attitude. Facing the Trump-Xi meeting, President Lai expressed his willingness to see dialogue between the United States and China to manage competition and reduce the risk of conflict and war. Chen Shimin analyzed that in the past, the outside world would think that maintaining a strategic competition between the United States and China would be more beneficial to Taiwan, but President Lai's remarks further showed that Taiwan is also willing to see the United States and China reduce the risk of war in the Taiwan Strait through dialogue. He believes that President Lai has expressed his attitude clearly, and he believes that the United States also attaches great importance to and welcomes Taiwan's stance, because "the United States should also want to understand how Taiwan observes the US-China dialogue" and "the United States does not want Taiwan to misinterpret it."
Third, reiterate our commitment to safeguarding peace. Chen Shimin pointed out that President Lai once again reiterated that Taiwan is the guardian of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. The increase in national defense is not for provocation, but to deter war. This demonstrates Taiwan's attitude towards the situation in the Taiwan Strait. Firstly, Taiwan will not be the first to use force. Secondly, it opposes any form of violence and breaks the narrative that "Taiwan is a destroyer and provocateur of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."
Cai Rongxiang, a professor at the Department of Political Science at National Chung Cheng University, analyzed that the president’s speech focused on three aspects. First, reaffirm the definition of peace. The president once again pointed out that peace must be maintained through strength and explained it more clearly, including developing asymmetric weapons, increasing national defense capabilities, and combining the power of countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
Second, correct historical facts. During the Sichuan-Xi meeting, Xi Jinping mentioned that China and the United States fought together to resist Japan, but in fact, during World War II, the Chinese government that fought alongside the United States was the government of the Republic of China. Xi Jinping's statement was to take the credit for others. The President mentioned the concept of "end war" last year. "The end of World War II" is a relatively neutral term that covers different people's interpretations and thoughts on history. However, in any case, the history of World War II should not be distorted and the credit of others should be attributed to them.
Third, align with the world. President Lai detailed various economic performance, including Taiwan's annual economic growth rate is expected to exceed 11%, Taiwan's total trade with the United States has surpassed China and Hong Kong, and the Taiwan Stock Index has reached 49,000 points, becoming the fourth largest stock market in the world. This shows that after Taiwan's economic and trade dependence on China has been reduced, Taiwan's economy is booming and connected with the world.
As for the issue of President Han going off-script, Cai Rongxiang believes that recall occurs under a democratic system. If the recall was not successful, how could the people who proposed the recall be condemned? Furthermore, Han mentioned that the Executive Yuan’s failure to countersign is a violation of the constitution, but the Legislative Yuan should examine what bills it has passed. Some bills have infringed on executive power.
Cai Rongxiang emphasized that the opposition between executive and legislative means that this country is not a dictatorship. Han Kuo-yu's speech is already contradictory. Han's remarks may be to create a certain halo for himself, but it is very inappropriate at the National Day ceremony where many foreign guests gather together. On the other hand, President Lai talked about the nine-in-one election at the end of the year and reiterated the position that political parties are different but should still dialogue. The two have made a difference.
