For Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te, the honeymoon period never arrived. Instead, after one year in office, he finds himself increasingly mired in political stalemates, both at home and abroad.
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The breakthrough in US-China trade negotiations last week highlighted a sobering reality for the Lai administration. Even Washington – its closest supporter and biggest arms supplier – is willing to strike deals with Beijing that leave Taipei on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, Lai’s efforts to strengthen Taiwan’s military readiness and ramp up defence spending to please Washington have met a lukewarm response from the White House, and the island’s youth are less and less inclined to join the armed forces.
Worse still, Lai is faced with an opposition-controlled legislature that has blocked some of his key initiatives and called him a “dictator” – a label that has increasingly taken hold in public discussion.
Analysts said US President Donald Trump’s dealings with Taiwan showed that Lai’s American strategy was ineffective, despite his previous slogans and commitments to try to please Washington.
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The Taiwanese leader was also perceived to be more inflexible than his predecessors, which had only deepened the challenges of Lai’s first year in power, they argued.
Trump’s sweeping 32 per cent tariffs on Taiwanese goods dealt a heavy blow to local businesses and undercut Lai’s narrative of Taipei’s “best-ever” relationship with Washington.