Lai Ching-te

Lai Ching-te (; pinyin: ''Lài Qīngdé''; born 6 October 1959), also known as William Lai, is a Taiwanese politician and former physician who is currently serving as the eighth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since May 2024. He is the third member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to assume the office of president and the first whose predecessor was also a DPP member. He is also the third incumbent vice president to succeed to the presidency and the first to assume the office through election instead of immediate succession. He has also served as the chair of the DPP since 2023.

Born to a working-class family in Taipei County, Lai studied medicine at National Taiwan University and National Cheng Kung University before earning a master's degree from Harvard University in 2003. After serving as the president of the National Physician Support Association, Lai ran in the 1996 Legislative Yuan election, winning a seat representing Tainan City. After being re-elected to the Legislative Yuan four consecutive times, Lai ran for Mayor of Tainan in 2010. Lai won and served as mayor for seven years, winning reelection in 2014. In September 2017, President Tsai Ing-wen announced Lai would replace outgoing premier Lin Chuan.

On 24 November 2018, Lai announced his intention to resign from the premiership after the Democratic Progressive Party suffered a major defeat in local elections, and left office on 14 January 2019 after the swearing-in of his successor Su Tseng-chang. Lai mounted an unsuccessful challenge against Tsai Ing-wen in the 2019 Democratic Progressive Party presidential primary, then served as her running mate in the 2020 Taiwan presidential election. In April 2023, Lai was nominated by the DPP as their presidential candidate for the 2024 presidential election and was elected with 40.05% of votes. He took office as President on 20 May 2024.

Early life and education

Lai was born into a working-class coal mining family in Wanli, a rural coastal town in northern Taipei County (now New Taipei City) on 6 October 1959. Lai's father died on 8 January 1960 of carbon monoxide poisoning while laboring in the coal mines of Wanli. His widowed mother raised him and his five siblings as a single parent.

Lai was educated at Wanli Junior High School in New Taipei City and became its first pupil to be admitted to Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School (CKHS), the city's top senior high school for boys. After graduating from CKHS, he enrolled in National Taiwan University's School of Veterinary Medicine. He later transferred to the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and graduated from its four-year program with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in 1984. As an undergraduate, Lai defrayed his college expenses by working as a tutor.

After receiving his bachelor's degree, Lai joined the Republic of China Armed Forces and served on an outlying island in Kinmen County. He then entered National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, where he received a medical degree from the postbaccalaureate medical education department in 1991.

After graduating from National Cheng Kung University, Lai went to the United States to complete advanced studies at Harvard University, where he earned a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2003. The next year, he was a visiting scholar at the U.S. Department of State. He then interned at National Cheng Kung University Hospital. His field of study was spinal cord damage and served as a national consultant for such injuries.

Legislative career

After serving as part of the support team for Chen Ding-nan's unsuccessful electoral bid for Governor of Taiwan Province in 1994, Lai decided to enter politics and leave his medical career. The next opportunity for election to a national body was the 1996 National Assembly, with Lai winning a seat representing Tainan City. Lai then joined the New Tide faction and stood as a candidate in the 1998 Legislative Yuan election, representing the Democratic Progressive Party in the second ward of Tainan City. He was successful in this election, and subsequently was reelected three times in 2001, 2004, and 2008. In total he served 11 years as a legislator, and was selected as Taiwan's "Best Legislator" four times in a row by Taipei-based NGO Citizen Congress Watch.

Mayor of Tainan (2010–2017)

With the 2010 reorganization of the municipalities in Taiwan, Tainan City and Tainan County were amalgamated into a single municipality, called Tainan. After successfully being selected in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) primaries in January 2010, Lai stood as the DPP candidate for the mayoral election on 27 November 2010, gaining 60.41% to defeat Kuomintang candidate Kuo Tien-tsai. He took office on 25 December 2010. As a result of his strong showing in the mayoral election coupled with his relative youth and his control of the DPP heartland city of Tainan, Lai was considered to be a potential candidate for a presidential run in 2016. In 2013 an opinion poll ranked Lai as the most popular of the 22 city and county heads in Taiwan, with an approval rating of 87%. Lai made on 5 June 2014 a visit to the city of Shanghai to assist an exhibition of art by the late Taiwanese painter Tan Ting-pho and met politicians of the Chinese Communist Party. Lai stood for reelection on 29 November 2014 against Huang Hsiu-shuang of the Kuomintang. His opponent was considered to have such an uphill task in the DPP stronghold that she rode a black horse through the streets of Tainan as an election stunt; a hopeful allusion to her status as a "dark horse". Lai, on the other hand, did not plan many campaign activities, choosing to focus on mayoral duties. He eventually won the election by 45 percentage points, the largest margin of victory in any of the municipal races in the election. Lai stepped down as Mayor in September 2017, after being appointed to the Premiership. He was succeeded in acting capacity by Lee Meng-yen.

Premiership (2017–2019)

In September 2017, Premier Lin Chuan tendered his resignation to President Tsai Ing-wen, which was reluctantly accepted. A recent poll showed Lin's approval rating to be a mere 28.7%, with 6 in 10 respondents dissatisfied with the performance of his cabinet. On 5 September, President Tsai announced at a press conference that Lai would become the country's next head of the Executive Yuan.

Lai took office on 8 September as the 49th Premier of Taiwan. Following Lai's appointment as premier, Tsai's approval ratings reached 46%, rebounding by more than 16 points since August. Lai made his first appearance as premier at the Legislative Yuan on 26 September, where he stated "I am a political worker who advocates Taiwan independence" but that "We are already an independent sovereign nation called the Republic of China. We don't need a separate declaration of independence". Lai has appeared to have moderated his position on Taiwanese independence particularly when he proposed the idea of "being close to China while loving Taiwan" in June 2017. He also expressed no desire to run against Tsai Ing-wen in the 2020 presidential election. On 28 September, the New Party called on the KMT to join it in filing a formal complaint against the Premier for sedition.

In October 2017, it was reported that Lai had garnered the approval of 68.8 percent of respondents in a survey, while 23 percent expressed dissatisfaction. However, critics say that his popularity may not last, due to his rapid reversal of his position on the issue of Taiwanese independence. However, on 20 October, in response to General Secretary Xi Jinping's comments on the one China policy and the 1992 consensus at the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Lai said that the Taiwanese government, following the directives of Tsai Ing-wen, would fulfill its promise of not changing the status quo between the two neighbors and not ceding before pressure from Beijing, which comes in the form of military intimidation and an international blockade.

In November 2018, Lai tendered his resignation to the president, after the ruling DPP performed poorly in local elections. Lai agreed to remain in office to help stabilize the government until the general budget was cleared by the Legislative Yuan in January 2019. Lai's cabinet resigned on 11 January 2019 and Su Tseng-chang was appointed as new premier.

First presidential campaign (2019)

On 18 March 2019, Lai Ching-te registered to run in the Democratic Progressive Party presidential primary, saying that he could shoulder the responsibility of leading Taiwan in defending itself from being annexed by China. This is the first time in Taiwanese history where a serious primary challenge has been mounted against a sitting president. The results of the DPP's primary poll released on 13 June shown that Tsai defeated Lai by winning 35.67 percent of the vote over Lai's 27.48 percent, officially becoming the DPP's presidential candidate for the 2020 election.

In November 2019, Lai accepted President Tsai's offer to become her running mate for the 2020 presidential election. Tsai secured over 57% of the ballot, winning a record 8.17 million votes in the election and began her second term in 2020.

Vice presidency (2020–2024)

During his vice presidency, Lai served as President Tsai Ing-wen's special envoy to Honduras for president Xiomara Castro's inauguration in January 2022. After the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, he made a private trip to Tokyo to pay his respects and became Taiwan's most senior official to visit Japan in five decades. In November 2022, Lai led representatives of Taiwan's travel agencies and industry associations to Palau to foster collaborations between the two countries.

In November 2022, President Tsai resigned as leader of DPP after the party's heavy losses in local elections. Lai officially registered as a candidate for the DPP chair election in December. Since Lai was the only candidate running, he became the new chairman of the DPP in 2023.

2024 presidential campaign

In March 2023, Lai registered as the only person to run in the DPP's 2024 presidential primary and was officially nominated by the ruling party in April. On 21 November 2023, Lai formally registered his campaign at the Central Election Commission along with his running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim. Lai claimed victory in a three-way race on 13 January 2024, marking the first time that a political party had won three consecutive presidential terms since direct elections were first held in 1996. However, the DPP lost its majority in the legislative election.

Presidency (2024–present)

On 13 January 2024, Lai Ching-te was elected president of the Republic of China with approximately 40% of the vote, and was inaugurated on 20 May 2024. Lai appointed Cho Jung-tai, ruling party's former chairman, as new premier.

Under Lai, Taiwan continued the previous administration's New Southbound Policy, signing an investment pact with Thailand in June 2024. Thailand became the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since the announcement of the policy in 2016.

Lai stated that the ROC and the PRC are not subordinate to each other. He reaffirmed the island's commitment to resisting Chinese annexation, emphasizing its sovereignty during National Day celebrations. He also expressed hopes for dialogue with Beijing, despite ongoing military pressure and tensions. In 2025, Lai announced plans to reinstate military trials for active-duty personnel and labeled China a "foreign hostile force" under the Anti-Infiltration Act.

Political views

Previously, Lai was viewed as a "deep green" member of the DPP, advocating for Taiwanese independence. As the mayor of Tainan, Lai called himself a "pragmatic worker for Taiwanese independence" and argued it was possible to "love Taiwan while having an affinity to China". He has since moderated his position, saying that there was no need to declare independence as " Taiwan is already a sovereign, independent country called the Republic of China." Lai advocates strengthening Taiwan's relations with the United States and other liberal democracies. Lai considers both titles of "Taiwan" or "Republic of China" that can be used equitably and interchangeably in respect of the country name.

Personal life

Lai married Wu Mei-ju in 1986. Wu worked for Taipower, and was based in Tainan until Lai was elected mayor of the city, and she transferred to Kaohsiung. The couple raised two sons.

Lai′s first grandson was born in the United States in 2020.

Honors

* :
** Order of Dr. Sun Yat-sen with Grand Cordon (As president)
** Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon (As President)
** Grand Cordon of the Order of Brilliant Jade (As President)

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lai, Ching-te
1958 births
Living people
20th-century Taiwanese physicians
Democratic Progressive Party chairpersons
Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni
Mayors of Tainan
Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan
Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan
Members of the 6th Legislative Yuan
Members of the 7th Legislative Yuan
National Cheng Kung University alumni
National Taiwan University alumni
Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from New Taipei
Premiers of the Republic of China on Taiwan
Tainan Members of the Legislative Yuan
Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent
Pro-Americanism
Taiwanese anti-communists
Taiwanese surgeons
Vice presidents of the Republic of China on Taiwan
Presidents of the Republic of China on Taiwan
Recipients of the Order of Propitious Clouds