Beijing slams Taiwanese leader Lai’s New Year’s speech as ‘lies’ and ‘malice’

Beijing has condemned Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s New Year’s Day speech – including his vow to boost the island’s defences – as full of “lies, falsehoods, hostility and malice” and an attempt to “mislead the Taiwanese people and international public opinion”. Chen Binhua, spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), said on Thursday that Lai’s speech “once again peddled the fallacy of ‘Taiwan independence’, incited cross-strait confrontation and reiterated the old tune of...