Lai pledges progress in LNY addressDEFENSE PRIORITY: While the Lunar New Year address is normally given at the Presidential Office, Lai chose the navy base to highlight the military’s year-round dedicationBy Chen Yun and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerPresident William Lai (賴清德) yesterday delivered his Lunar New Year address, pledging to strengthen national defense and steadily advance economic development to ensure Taiwan maintains its leading edge in global technology and industrial competition. Lai joined officers and soldiers at the navy’s 3,020m-high Hsiaohsueshan Radar Station for a New Year’s Eve dinner. “Taiwan’s most beautiful scenery is not only found among its mountains and seas, but also in every individual standing together through hardship.”President William Lai, center, is flanked by soldiers holding Lunar New Year couplets at the navy’s 3,020m-high Hsiaohsueshan Radar Station in Taichung in an undated photograph. In the year ahead, Lai said he would lead his administration in pressing forward without pause to safeguard national security and social stability. Lai’s decision to deliver the address from the Hsiaohsueshan Radar Station broke with past practice, when such speeches were typically held at the Presidential Office or the Taipei Guest House.

Source: Taipei Times February 15, 2026 17:13 UTC