Lai Ching-te Tells DPP Convention Taiwan 'Not Subordinate' to PRC, Warns of China's 'Legal Warfare'

Speaking at the Democratic Progressive Party's annual convention in Taipei on July 19, 2026, President Lai Ching-te — also DPP chairman — reiterated that Taiwan, whose constitutional name is the Republic of China, is already an independent country and 'not subordinate to the People's Republic of China.' Lai told delegates the DPP would never allow a 'democratic Taiwan' to regress into 'China's Taiwan,' and warned members to stay vigilant against what he called Beijing's 'legal warfare,' citing China's new ethnic unity law as providing a legal basis for Beijing to take action against people outside its borders. Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhang Han called the remarks a reckless challenge to the one-China principle, and the PLA staged a two-day live-fire drill near the Taiwan Strait on July 23-24 in response.