TAIPEI -- As Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te's tenure reached the two-year mark on Wednesday, his anniversary speech triggered a wave of criticism, with various sectors in Taiwan accusing him of covering up poor performance and deepening cross-Strait tensions.

In a statement issued after Lai's speech, the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party accused him of ignoring growing security risks facing the island and continuing to provoke confrontation across the Taiwan Strait through a secessionist ideology.

The KMT warned that such policies could place the safety of Taiwan's 23 million residents at greater risk.

Calling Lai's address a carefully packaged "self-justification," the Taiwan People's Party noted in a press release that the speech failed to tackle pressing problems such as budget planning, energy policy and cross-Strait relations, instead covering them up and shifting the blame.

Taiwan media outlets also voiced skepticism over Lai's remarks. An editorial published Thursday by Taipei-based China Times argued that Lai had repackaged the concept of "maintaining the status quo" into a new secessionist narrative.

The editorial warned that if Lai continued to pin his hope on the US support for his secessionist agenda, it would amount to a serious miscalculation and could push the Strait into a more dangerous situation.

Commentators across the island noted that Lai's speech offered no concrete proposals to ease cross-Strait tensions apart from a confrontational strategy claiming to prevent "external forces" from changing the status quo in the Strait.

Critics argued that such an approach had already hurt sectors closely tied to people's livelihoods, including tourism, agriculture and fisheries.

Lai's emphasis on Taiwan's economic performance did not impress others. Hsieh Chih-chuan, a local commentator, said only two of the 227 campaign promises Lai made during his election bid had so far been fulfilled, a strong proof of the emptiness of his speech.

Official statistics cited by local commentators showed that around 70 percent of employees in Taiwan still earn wages below the average level.

Economic analysts pointed out that while the island's technology and semiconductor industries have benefited from the global artificial intelligence boom, prosperity in a handful of sectors failed to translate into broader economic gains for ordinary residents.

Lin Pei-hsiang, a KMT legislator, said that the issues most concerning the public are power shortages, inflation, low wages and declining birth rates, but Lai's speech largely repeated rhetoric heard over the past two years without offering meaningful solutions to mounting livelihood pressures.

A commentary published by United Daily News warned that if the authorities fail to address structural economic problems and deep-rooted public grievances, they will soon face "a trial from history and public opinion."

Recent opinion polls in Taiwan showed that dissatisfaction with Lai's performance has exceeded approval, while 51 percent of respondents said they lacked confidence in his future performance.

Social media users also flooded Lai's Facebook page with critical comments, accusing him of failing to deliver on campaign promises and neglecting the hardships faced by the public.

Critics further accused Lai of exacerbating social divisions instead of fostering unity. Although he had pledged to bridge partisan divides after taking office, opponents said that not only his policies grow confrontational, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led by him orchestrated a sweeping recall campaign targeting opposition legislators, contributing to political chaos and deteriorating cross-Strait relations.

An opinion piece in United Daily News warned that unless the DPP authorities adopt a more pragmatic approach aligned with mainstream public opinion, Taiwan could face deeper instability and internal friction in the years ahead.