Taiwan’s president calls on China to stop threats

President Lai of Taiwan asked China to stop its military and political threats, saying in his inauguration speech that peace is the only choice and that Beijing had to respect the choice of the Taiwanese people. Lai, addressing the crowd outside the Japanese-colonial-era presidential office in central Taipei, repeated a call for talks with China, which views the proudly democratic island as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under Beijing’s control. Read the best of our journalism: Subscribe to The Times and The Sunday Times YouTube channel: Find us on Facebook: Find us on Twitter: Find us on Instagram: #taiwan #china #taipei