Lai Ching-te inaugurated as Taiwan's president which will likely bolster US ties

Relative moderate Lai Ching-te has been inaugurated as Taiwan's new president and will continue the self-governing island's democracy policy of de facto independence while seeking to bolster its defences against China. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and has been upping its threats to annex it by force if necessary. Advertisement Mr Lai accepted congratulations from fellow politicians and delegations from the 12 nations that maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, as well as politicians from the US, Japan and various European states. Mr Lai entered politics as mayor of the southern city of Tainan and then rose to…