Lai Ching-te, widely known as William, took office in a ceremony attended by dozens of foreign delegations.

In his inauguration speech, he praised the people of Taiwan for defending democracy and said there would be no concessions on freedom.

Lai is expected to strengthen ties with Washington and the Biden administration has welcomed his swearing in.

Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and views Lai as a separatist.

Here's some of what he had to say during the inauguration.

I would also like to call on China to cease their political and military intimidation against Taiwan, share with Taiwan the global responsibility of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait as well as the greater region, and ensure the world is free from the fear of war.

Now let's cross over to DW correspondent James Chater in Taipei.

James, what tone did Lai strike on Beijing as he began his presidency?

Well, yeah, a pretty strongly worded first speech from the new president of Taiwan, Lai

Ching-te.

In his inaugural address, he said that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not subordinate to each other.

He also said that Beijing needs to, quote, respect the existence of the Republic of China.

That's Taiwan's official name.

He also said, crucially, that Beijing needs to respect the choice of Taiwanese voters.

Remember, this is a politician that in the lead up to the January election here in Taiwan,

Beijing was warning Taiwanese voters against electing because they said it was going to raise the prospect of conflict across the Taiwan Strait.

And what we've really seen in the run up to this inauguration from Chinese officials is more of that sentiment, more of those warnings that this new Lai administration is likely to lead to a more strained environment across the Taiwan Strait.

But elsewhere in the speech, what we saw really was Lai trying to strike this balancing act that Taiwanese presidents so often have to strike at the same time as signaling that he was open to communication and dialogue with Beijing, willing to engage with the Chinese

Communist Party, at the same time warning that those threats from China are unlikely to vanish.

And that's why Taiwan needs to press ahead with those defense and military reforms, as well as deepening partnerships with like-minded democracies, even in an unofficial capacity, like the U.S., like Japan, and like the EU.

Now, in recent days, we've seen protests in Taiwan and even fighting in Taiwan's parliament.

What are the main issues he needs to address now?

Yeah, well, what we saw there was fighting, physical fighting, as you mentioned, in Taiwan's parliament over procedural reform in Taiwan's parliament.

And what that really underscores is a key aspect, really, of that result from the January election, which was that Lai Ching-de, the new president, won in a simple majority of the presidency with just 40 percent of the vote.

So opposition candidates in total have a majority.

That's meant that the ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party, has lost its majority in the legislature in Taiwan.

And that means it's going to be much harder for the ruling party, for Lai Ching-de, to pass reforms, to pass his policy proposals, whether that's on defense reform or other issues relating to Taiwan domestically.

Now, the opposition parties in the run-up to this inauguration, too, have really signaled that they're going to hold this new government to account when it comes to those domestic issues.

And there are significant challenges that the new government has to address with the domestic economy, wage stagnation, wage inequality between younger and older people, and the cost of housing as well.

So it's not just China that the new president of Taiwan has to deal with.

Of course, that will be front and center of his concerns.

But with that composition, too, in the parliaments, none of this is going to be an easy ride for the new president here.

DW correspondent James Chater there, reporting from Taipei.

Thank you very much, James.

Thank you.