Why did Taiwan's William Lai tone down his rhetoric on mainland China?
Lai also extended an olive branch to
the island's opposition parties – the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) and the smaller opposition Taiwan People's Party – by offering to brief their leaders on national security matters.
It was a noticeable shift in tone.
Since taking office on May 20 last year, Lai has regularly used major public addresses to assert that Taiwan and the mainland '
are not subordinate to each other ' and described Beijing as a 'hostile foreign force'.
But on Tuesday, Lai only mentioned Beijing when asked by reporters.
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