Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party has nominated Vice President Lai Ching-te as its candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
This comes two days after China concluded large-scale military drills around the self-governed island.
At a nominating event on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, Lai averred that he would continue to assert Taiwan’s right to international recognition while boosting its high-tech economy and promoting an efficient government.
“We must definitely continue to improve Taiwan’s investment environment,” Lai who is also known as William Lai, informed reporters.
Lai’s most challenging task, however, will be dealing with threats from China, which considers Taiwan its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary.
“A war over Taiwan would be a global disaster. As long as China maintains its military threats against Taiwan, we must continue to strengthen our national defense.”
Lai Ching-te
Originally trained as a physician with a master’s in public health from Harvard, Lai, 63, was a legislator, mayor of the southern city of Tainan and Taiwan’s Premier before challenging President Tsai Ing-wen for the party’s presidential nomination in 2019.
After Tsai won the primary, Lai accepted her offer to be her running mate and the pair easily defeated the main opposition Nationalist Party in 2020. Tsai Ing-wen soundly defeated Nationalist Party candidate, Han Kuo-yu, receiving 57.2% of the vote to Han’s 38.6%, with virtually all of the votes counted.
President Tsai Ing-wen is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.
Main Opposition Party Yet To Name A Candidate
It remains unclear who Lai will face in January’s election, with the main opposition Nationalist Party, also known as the KMT, yet to name a candidate.
Among those most favored are businessperson Terry Gou who founded electronics manufacturer; Foxconn, and New Taipei City Mayor, Hou Yu-ih who was formerly a top police official.
The Nationalists ruled Taiwan under martial law for decades after Chiang Kai-shek moved his government to the island as Mao Zedong’s Communist Party seized power in mainland China in 1949 amid a bloody civil war.
Democratic reforms were introduced gradually after Chiang’s 1975 death and direct presidential elections were held for the first time in 1996. The DPP and Nationalists have alternated in power, although Tsai’s initial 2016 election also marked the first time the DPP assumed a legislative majority.
Under nationalist leader Xi Jinping, China has vastly strengthened its armed forces and routinely sends warships and planes into the air and waters near Taiwan.
That threat was on display most recently as China’s People’s Liberation Army staged large-scale war games over three days from Saturday, simulating an encirclement of the island in a response to a meeting on April 5, 2023, in California between Tsai and U.S. House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy.
China regards such meetings as encouraging Taiwanese voters and politicians who support formal independence for the island, a step China’s ruling Communist Party says would lead to war.
President Tsai Ing-wen condemned China’s military drills in the Taiwan Strait, saying on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, that China did not demonstrate the “responsible” behavior of a major Asian nation.
“As the President, I represent our country in the world, whether it’s a visit to allied countries or stopping through in the U.S. and interacting with our international friends, and not only has this been going on for years, it’s the Taiwanese people’s shared expectation.
“But China used this as a pretext to start military drills, creating instability in the Taiwan Strait and region. This is not the attitude of a responsible major nation in this region.”
President Tsai Ing-wen
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