Commentators across Taiwan have expressed disappointment and anxiety over Lai Ching-te's speech upon assuming the role of the region's new leader.

The Cross-Straits Peace and Development Forum issued a statement criticizing Lai's speech for disregarding historical and legal facts regarding Taiwan's status as part of China.

The 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation stipulated that Taiwan, a Chinese territory stolen by Japan, shall be restored to China. These documents with international legal effect formed an integral part of the post-WWII international order and constitute the collective memory of the international community, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on May 20, on the sidelines of the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Astana.

Wang said that the Taiwan question is China's internal affair. Realizing China's complete reunification is a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation and a historical trend that no force can stop, he said.