William Lai Ching-te has been sworn in as president of Taiwan in a ceremony that included a 21-gun salute, as he later praised the self-governing island\u2019s democracy and urged China to stop its \u201cintimidation\u201d. Lai and Vice President Hsia Bi-khim took their oaths on Monday beneath a portrait of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China (ROC), the formal name for Taiwan\u2019s government, in a ceremony at the presidential building in Taipei. The 64-year-old was given two seals that symbolise presidential power from the parliament speaker: one the ROC seal and the other, a seal of honour. Both were brought to the island by the Nationalists in 1949 after they lost China\u2019s civil war to the Communists. Outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen also bid farewell during the ceremony, signing off after eight years and a maximum two terms in office. Addressing the crowds gathered at the presidential building, Lai noted the significance of May 20 \u2013 the day in 1949 when martial law was imposed and also the day in 1997 when Taiwan\u2019s first popularly-elected president was sworn into office \u2013 \u201csignalling to the international community that the Republic of China, Taiwan, is a sovereign and independent nation with sovereignty resting in the people\u201d. He stressed Taiwan would make no concessions on its democracy and freedoms and called on Beijing to \u201cstop its aggression against Taiwan\u201d and strivie to \u201cmaintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region, ensuring the world is free from the fear of war.\u201d Beijing claims Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve its goals. Throughout Tsai\u2019s two terms in office, it sent military aircraft and ships near the island and has continued to do so since Lai, whom it considers a \u201cseparatist\u201d and a \u201ctroublemaker\u201d, emerged the victor in January\u2019s elections. Representatives from 29 countries joined the ceremony on Monday, including those from Taiwan\u2019s last 12 diplomatic allies in the Pacific, Central America and the Holy See. Former United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended, as did Former Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and representatives of foreign \u201ceconomic\u201d or \u201ctrade\u201d offices that serve as de facto diplomatic missions for countries that maintain formal ties with Beijing. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a message of congratulations and said Washington looked forward to working with Lai to \u201cdeepen our longstanding unofficial relationship, and maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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