Taiwanese leader welcomes talks between Washington and Beijing ‘to reduce risk of war’

Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te has welcomed talks between Washington and Beijing aimed at reducing the risk of conflict.Lai’s annual Double Tenth address, marking the anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name, also called for democracies to work together to safeguard regional peace and for the Taiwanese people’s right to exist to be respected.But Beijing said he had shown his true colours and accused him of “stirring up confrontation across the Taiwan Strait”.“Lai Ching-te’s speech disregarded facts ... misled the public and revealed sinister motives, constituting a performance true to form by a ‘pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence’,” said Zhang Han, a spokeswoman for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office, using a label Lai had previously attached to himself.