President Lai Ching-te delivered his third National Day address since taking office on the morning of the 10th in front of the Presidential Office. Its title was “Taiwan: A City on a Hill, the Salt of the Earth, the Light of the World.” A Presidential Office source explained that the images come from the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible, and that former U.S. presidents Kennedy and Reagan also cited it (CNA, Liberty Times). President Lai said this year's economic growth could top 11% and that Taiwan's World Competitiveness ranking had risen to 4th in the world; next year he plans a universal handout of NT0,000 per person as an “AI dividend,” along with raises to the elderly farmer allowance, the National Pension and 6 major social welfare allowances, and a NT$5,000 monthly growth allowance for ages 0 to 18 (CNA). He also said that raising defense investment is meant to deter war, that he welcomes U.S.-China dialogue to manage competition, and that energy options would not be ruled out on ideological grounds (CNA, United Daily News). By the Liberty Times' count, the speech mentioned “Taiwan” 42 times and “Republic of China” 2 times; PTS counted only 1 mention of “China” in the full text. Zhang Han, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, criticized the speech for hyping the China threat; KMT Chairperson Cheng Li-wun said the vision is worth pursuing together and called for substantive dialogue between ruling and opposition parties (Liberty Times).
The National Day address is the one occasion each year on which the president explains the direction of government to audiences at home and abroad, and its word choices are read closely by Beijing, Washington and every domestic party. This year the emphasis was on livelihoods and the distribution of economic gains rather than sharp words about China, and the tone was more restrained than in the previous two years, a point Japanese scholar Yoshiyuki Ogasawara also noted. The universal cash handout and allowances bear directly on the government budget and will be a focus of the coming ruling-opposition contest.
If the plans are carried out, each person could receive NT0,000 next year, and families with children aged 0 to 18 could get an extra NT$5,000 a month; but all of this still needs the Legislative Yuan to pass the budget and bills before it counts, so do not treat it as confirmed income for now. The nine-in-one elections on Nov. 28 will also turn policy promises into campaign language, and readers can check the actual legal text before deciding.
The speech was even in tone and focused on livelihoods, while taking a position on U.S.-China dialogue, which helps ease tension across the strait and at home; Japanese scholar Yoshiyuki Ogasawara called it a successful speech.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office criticizes it as hyping the threat; the opposition camp calls for substantive dialogue between ruling and opposition parties and holds that policy promises must first account for funding and budgets. A word count also cannot substitute for judging policy.
What to watch today is not the four words “City on a Hill” but three things: when the NT0,000 handout and the growth allowance will be sent to the Legislative Yuan and where the money will come from, which the Executive Yuan must make clear; whether Beijing responds only in words or increases sea and air activity after the holiday; and whether the KMT and the TPP accept the “substantive dialogue” Cheng Li-wun spoke of. Until documents and budget bills appear, these remain promises.
CNA · Liberty Times · PTS · United Daily News · Economic Daily News · Yahoo News (Oct. 10)
Politics · Cross-strait · EconomyPress ✓ 6 outlets · figures are as stated in the speech; policy details await the Executive Yuan
President Lai's National Day speech takes “City on a Hill” as its theme, plans a NT$10,000-per-person “AI dividend” next year; China's Taiwan Affairs Office says he is hyping the threat
The speech runs about 4,450 characters and centers on livelihoods and economic results, with less space for cross-strait ties than in past years. The National Day fireworks went up that night in Taitung and lasted about 30 minutes.
President Lai Ching-te delivered his third National Day address since taking office on the morning of the 10th in front of the Presidential Office. Its title was “Taiwan: A City on a Hill, the Salt of the Earth, the Light of the World.” A Presidential Office source explained that these images come from the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible, and that former U.S. presidents Kennedy and Reagan also cited the “city on a hill”; President Lai borrowed this language to describe what kind of country Taiwan should become (CNA, Liberty Times). The economy and livelihoods were the core of the speech. President Lai said Taiwan's economic growth this year could top 11% and that the World Competitiveness ranking of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland, had risen to 4th in the world, the best ever. He plans, on the condition of sound public finances, a universal handout of NT$10,000 per person next year as an “AI dividend,” along with raises to the elderly farmer allowance, the National Pension and 6 major social welfare allowances, and a NT$5,000 monthly growth allowance for ages 0 to 18 (CNA). All of these must first pass the Legislative Yuan's budget review; details and funding sources await later explanation from the Executive Yuan. On energy, he said the government would assess every option pragmatically, according to scientific evidence, legal procedure and safety standards, and would rule none out on ideological grounds (CNA, United Daily News).
On external and cross-strait matters, President Lai said that raising defense investment is meant to deter war, not to provoke, and that he welcomes the United States and China managing their competition through dialogue to lower the risk of conflict. A Presidential Office source summed up three layers of meaning in the speech: a response to U.S.-China interaction after the Trump-Xi summit, a contrast between the systems of Taiwan and China through democratic governance, and a response to social problems through concrete policy. A senior official told CNA that the speech also expressed willingness to talk with China on the basis of equality and dignity. President Lai also said the history of World War II must not be distorted, and noted that the government continues its anti-drug strategy, using saliva drug tests to strengthen roadside checks and stop drugged driving (CNA). By the Liberty Times' count, the speech mentioned “Taiwan” 42 times and “Republic of China” 2 times; PTS counted only 1 mention of “China” in the full text, so the space and tone given to cross-strait ties and sovereignty were more restrained than in past years. Japanese political scientist Yoshiyuki Ogasawara told CNA this was a mild-toned speech without major missteps, and that he thinks the election outlook favors the DPP; another scholar noted that President Lai viewed the Trump-Xi summit in an international frame, encouraging the public to have strategic confidence (CNA, Liberty Times). Zhang Han, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, criticized President Lai for hyping the China threat and promoting a “false narrative” of democracy against authoritarianism, and accused him of “seeking independence by force and by relying on outsiders”; KMT Chairperson Cheng Li-wun said the vision of a city on a hill is worth pursuing together and called for substantive dialogue between ruling and opposition parties (Liberty Times). PTS summed up three main threads: shared economic gains and welfare, a response to U.S.-China dialogue, and a restated resolve to strengthen self-defense. One caution: neither the NT$10,000 handout nor the growth allowance has a bill or budget yet. That night the National Day fireworks were launched at the mouth of the Beinan River in Taitung, themed “Ark of the World: Austronesian Taiwan,” with 19,877 shells over about 30 minutes and more than 50,000 people on site (Liberty Times).
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By the numbers
About 4,450 charactersLength of President Lai's National Day speech; “Taiwan” appears 42 times, “Republic of China” 2 times (Liberty Times count)
11%The growth rate President Lai said this year “could” top, not yet an official statistic (CNA)
NT$10,000The “AI dividend” planned for every person next year, still awaiting budget and Legislative Yuan review (CNA)
Legislative Yuan Speaker Han Kuo-yu went off script in his remarks presiding over the National Day ceremony on the 10th. He called last year's mass recall a “political hunting,” said President Lai has “political purism,” and criticized Premier Cho Jung-tai for refusing to countersign laws passed by the Legislative Yuan on third reading, urging that Taiwan not be seen as a “fake democracy, real dictatorship”; he also mentioned that some people want Taiwan to become America's 51st state, Japan's 5th big island or China's 31st province (CNA, PTS, Liberty Times). The Executive Yuan responded that constitutional mechanisms should not be stigmatized for political attack and defense, and listed its reasons for declining to countersign 8 bills (CNA, Radio Taiwan International). A Presidential Office source criticized this as lacking stature; the KMT and TPP caucuses said they agreed, while the DPP caucus criticized it as political denunciation (CNA, PTS). PTS reported that KMT Chairperson Cheng Li-wun did not attend the ceremony.
The National Day ceremony is a national celebration, yet the speaker publicly named the standoff between the executive and legislative branches, putting ruling-opposition conflict directly in front of international guests. Countersignature involves how the executive and legislative branches check each other within the constitutional system, and also affects whether the general budget and bills can take effect smoothly.
If the executive and legislative branches stay deadlocked, what is affected is budget execution, the timing of allowance payments and the implementation of various bills. What to watch is the concrete outcome of later negotiations between the parties, not simply who said what on stage.
The KMT and TPP caucuses hold that those in power should accept oversight and abide by the constitutional system, and that the president has a duty to resolve the deadlock.
The Executive Yuan and the DPP caucus hold that declining to countersign has a constitutional basis, that the National Day ceremony is not a personal political stage, and that public accusations only deepen confrontation.
The crux of this dispute is not the wording but the legal line on countersignature: whether the reasons for the 8 bills the Executive Yuan declined to countersign can all withstand constitutional scrutiny should be explained publicly and in a verifiable way; likewise, whether the Legislative Yuan's amendments exceed its powers should be answered by the Constitutional Court or the relevant procedures, not by shouting across the stage. We will watch the actual negotiations between the Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan next week.
CNA · PTS · Liberty Times · Radio Taiwan International · Yahoo News (Oct. 10)
Politics · ConstitutionPress ✓ 5 outlets · remarks are from on-site reports and the Executive Yuan's written response
Han Kuo-yu goes off script at National Day, revisits the mass recall and the Executive Yuan's refusal to countersign; Cabinet responds that constitutional mechanisms should not be stigmatized
Legislative Yuan Speaker Han Kuo-yu, who also serves as the National Day organizing committee chair, went off script in his remarks at the National Day ceremony on the 10th. He called last year's mass recall a “political hunting,” said President Lai has “political purism,” and named Premier Cho Jung-tai for refusing to countersign laws passed by the Legislative Yuan on third reading, urging that Taiwan not be seen as a “fake democracy, real dictatorship”; he also said some people in Taiwan want it to be America's 51st state, Japan's 5th big island, or China's 31st province (CNA, PTS, Liberty Times). He also made three wishes, “a safe Taiwan, a wealthy people, long live democracy,” and said the executive and legislative branches should sit down and compromise (CNA); the Liberty Times reported that people at the venue shouted “step down” and retorted that he had caused the conflict. KMT caucus chief deputy secretary-general Hung Meng-kai said the president has a duty to resolve the deadlock. The Executive Yuan responded that the Legislative Yuan should respect each side's powers, that neither side should overstep constitutional lines, and that constitutional mechanisms should not be stigmatized for political attack and defense; Radio Taiwan International reported that the Cabinet listed its reasons for declining to countersign 8 bills and hit back that the Legislative Yuan's amendments depart from the constitutional order. A Presidential Office source said this “lacks stature”; the KMT caucus and the TPP caucus said they agreed, while the DPP caucus criticized it as political denunciation (CNA, PTS). Under the Constitution, a law can be promulgated only with the premier's countersignature, and where the line on countersigning lies has long been disputed; we do not judge who is right or wrong. KMT Chairperson Cheng Li-wun did not attend the ceremony (PTS). For ordinary people, what really matters is the progress of review on the general budget and various bills, so watch whether Legislative Yuan negotiations advance afterward, not the words on stage.
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Word of the day
CountersignatureCONSTITUTIONWhen the president promulgates a law or order, the premier must sign it as well for the procedure to be complete. Whether the premier signs bears on how the executive and legislative branches check each other, and is the core of this latest dispute between ruling and opposition parties.