Taiwan swears in new president, defies Chinese aggression

Taiwan's new President Lai Ching-te has faced opposition from lawmakers and protests since taking office, amidst escalating tensions with China. The controversy surrounds a proposed bill that would require the president to deliver an annual address to parliament and allow officials to be jailed for lying to the legislature. Critics of the opposition warn that the chaos and disunity being fomented plays into the hands of China, which has vowed to annex Taiwan.

William Lai Ching-te has been sworn in as Taiwan's sixth democratically-elected president, marking a narrow but historic win for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). This victory breaks the eight-year cycle of power switching between the DPP and its Beijing-friendly rival, the Kuomintang (KMT).