Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te used the ruling DPP's 40th anniversary to rally voters against pressure from China ahead of year-end local elections — a show of confidence for the party, and a signal to Beijing that Taiwan is not backing down.

• Lai said the party's founders had the courage to defy martial-law rule, and today's generation must have the will to face a stronger power — meaning China — and protect Taiwan's sovereignty.
• The event marked 40 years of the DPP and 30 years of direct presidential elections, framed as Taiwan's hard road from dictatorship to democracy.
• Lai pointed to Chinese pressure on Taiwan and gridlock in the opposition-controlled legislature as the reasons voters need to turn out again, likening it to the 2004 "hand in hand" human-chain rally.
• The party is running new faces for the local races, including several candidates who were not DPP members before, plus seven lawyers and nine women, to show a younger generation taking over.

Outlook: Expect the DPP to campaign hard on sovereignty and standing up to China through the local elections, keeping cross-strait tension front and center in Taiwan's politics.