By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-10-11 12:51:53 | Updated at 2026-10-12 14:53:59
1 day ago
TAIPEI – Taiwan President Lai Ching-te devoted most of his National Day speech to domestic issues, but analysts saw his call for Taiwan to become a “city upon a hill”, a biblical image and a phrase long used by US politicians, as a message to Washington.
After a morning of marching bands and mass displays, Lai took the podium in front of the presidential office building on Oct 10 to laud Taiwan’s achievements and mark the 30th anniversary of the island’s first direct presidential election.
Then he asked what Taiwan should strive to become, before answering: “We must become a ‘city upon a hill’, built with courage and confidence.”
In the 25-minute address, Lai also described Taiwan as the “salt” and “light” of the world. Both images come from the same biblical passage as “city upon a hill”: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
The phrase “city upon a hill” was used by Puritan leader John Winthrop in a 1630 address to settlers bound for Massachusetts Bay. Ava Shen, Eurasia Group’s associate for China and Northeast Asia, said the speech is regarded as one of the “first examples of American exceptionalism, an origin story of American democracy”.
Later US presidents adopted the image. Notably, Ronald Reagan often called the US a “shining city upon a hill”.
Shen believes Lai’s use of this imagery is directed at the United States. “It aims to remind Washington that Taiwan is a beacon of democracy, just like the US, and thus is a worthy partner that the US should continue to support,” she told The Straits Times.
The US has not issued a formal response to Lai’s address. But Reuters quoted a senior US administration official as saying Washington welcomed Lai’s commitment to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Ding Shuh-fan, Emeritus Professor at the College of International Affairs, National Chengchi University, read the imagery as intended for a broader audience. He said Lai was “expressing his will to the world”.
In his speech, Lai framed Taiwan’s survival in the face of “authoritarian expansion” as a test of whether the international community still believes that “force cannot override rules” and that people have the right to determine their own future.
Lai also used the city metaphor to cast Taiwan as a bulwark against regional conflict. “This city upon a hill must be ironclad. And our people must be united as one to be a key force in safeguarding peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
The presidential office has given its own explanation of the biblical-sounding phrases to news agency Focus Taiwan.
The phrase “city upon a hill” reflected Taiwan’s aspirations for its future; “salt of the earth” represented its commitment to democracy and self-defence; and “light of the world” symbolised its contributions to the world through economic development and technological advances, according to an official cited by the media.
Timing and cross-strait context
Lai’s speech comes weeks after US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in late September, their second meeting this year, with Taiwan again on the agenda.
According to Beijing, Xi urged Trump during their September meeting in Washington to “adhere to the correct position of opposing ‘Taiwan independence’”. At their May meeting in Beijing, Xi had warned that Taiwan is the most important issue in China-US relations and that mishandling it could lead to clashes or even conflict between the two countries.
Following their May meeting, Trump held back approval of a proposed US$14 billion arms sale to Taiwan, describing it as “a very good negotiating chip” in his dealings with Xi. The delay raised concerns about Washington’s commitment to the island and the prospects for future US arms sales. Taiwan and US officials have maintained that US policy on Taiwan remains unchanged.
The US is bound by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to provide the island with the means to defend itself. Beijing opposes US arms sales to Taiwan, arguing that they interfere in China’s internal affairs and embolden those seeking independence for the island. China claims Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force, a claim Taiwan rejects.
In his National Day speech, Lai called out China for pressuring Taiwan through grey-zone activities — actions that stop short of open military conflict — and defended plans to increase the island’s defence budget, saying the aim was not to provoke but to deter war.
“Like salt, Taiwan may be small, but we stand guard over freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” he said.
China swiftly criticised Lai’s speech. Zhang Han, a spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Oct 10 that Lai “disregarded facts, distorted right and wrong, and exposed his ulterior motives, revealing his true colours as a so-called pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence”, China Daily reported.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council hit back within hours, asking China to “stop coercing and pressuring Taiwan and undermining Taiwan’s democratic governance”.
Despite the sharp exchanges, observers noted that Lai’s remarks on cross-strait relations were relatively restrained compared with previous years.
“Lai only explicitly criticised China once for its grey-zone coercion against Taiwan. He did not repeat the phrase ‘the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China are not mutually subordinate to one another’, a phrase that has angered Beijing greatly in 2024,” said Shen, who concluded that Lai’s words were unlikely to provoke action from China other than verbal criticism.
By word count, about two-thirds of Lai’s speech focused on domestic concerns.
“(The speech) was likely primarily aimed at domestic voters, as the focus was on people’s livelihoods and the economy, which are directly related to the local elections,” said Ding.
Taiwan’s upcoming nine-in-one local elections in November is seen as both a mid-term report card for President Lai, and a bellwether for Taiwan’s 2028 presidential elections. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party hopes to retake major cities now helmed by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT).
Taiwan marks National Day on Oct 10. The date commemorates the start of an uprising in 1911, which led to the overthrow of China’s Qing dynasty and the founding of the Republic of China on Jan 1, 1912. Its government relocated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War to the communists. The Republic of China remains Taiwan’s official name.
