Taiwan’s Blunt-Talking Leader Faces China’s Backlash

The long-smoldering tensions between China and Taiwan have been entering a more precarious phase. In recent months, Beijing has threatened to severely punish Taiwanese citizens who challenge China’s claim to the island. More Chinese jets have buzzed the skies near it. Chinese Coast Guard ships have sailed near Taiwan’s outer islands.

And both sides have dug deeper into their opposing political positions.

When Lai Ching-te became Taiwan’s president in May, he vowed to stick with the China policies of his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen. Ms. Tsai sought to avoid confrontation even as she defended Taiwan’s right to self-rule and rejected Beijing’s assertion of sovereignty.

Yet Mr. Lai, while keeping Taiwan’s basic policy toward China unchanged, has been blunter in rebuffing its demands. Ms. Tsai, a former trade law specialist, chose her words about China with care. Mr. Lai, who rose as a more plain-spoken politician, sees a need to more sharply lay out Taiwan’s separate status.

“In his judgment, there’s nothing to be gained from being ambiguous — the conclusion is that Beijing is going to press them, no matter what,” said David Sacks, a fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations who analyzes relations between Taiwan and China.

“For decades, cross-strait relations really lay on ambiguities and not saying what you really think, but I think that a lot of that is being eliminated,” Mr. Sacks said. “There’s less room for maneuverability.”

This shift does not mean that war or regional crisis looms. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, is focused on fixing its economy and has indicated that he wants to keep tensions with the United States, Taiwan’s security partner, in check. Chinese leaders also still hope to absorb Taiwan peacefully, and they have maintained contacts with the island’s opposition Nationalist Party, which favors closer ties with Beijing.