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William Lai Ching-te (; born 6 October 1959) is a Taiwanese politician who has been the Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2020. He served as a legislator in the
Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...
from 1999 to 2010, and as
Mayor of Tainan The Mayor of Tainan is the head of the Tainan City Government, Taiwan and is elected to a four-year term. The current mayor is Huang Wei-cher of the Democratic Progressive Party since 25 December 2018. Titles of the Mayor List of Mayors Thi ...
from 2010 to 2017, prior to taking office as premier of the Republic of China. On 24 November 2018, he announced his intention to resign from the premiership after the
Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...
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 a challenge against Tsai in the
2019 Democratic Progressive Party presidential primary In the 2019 Democratic Progressive Party presidential primary, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of Taiwan determined its nominee for the President of the Republic of China in the 2020 Taiwan presidential election, 2020 presidential election. ...
and after defeat, served as the running mate of President Tsai Ing-wen in the
2020 Taiwan presidential election Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 11 January 2020 along with the 10th Legislative Yuan election. Incumbent president Tsai Ing-wen and former premier William Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the election, defeating K ...
in which the tandem was victorious.


Early life and career

Born in Wanli, a rural coastal town in northern Taipei County (now New Taipei City) on 6 October 1959, Lai underwent schooling in Taipei City and studied at both
National Cheng Kung University National Cheng Kung University (NCKU; ) is a public research university located in Tainan, Taiwan. The university is best known for engineering, computer science, medicine, and planning and design. As a top university in Taiwan, NCKU has played ...
in Tainan and National Taiwan University in Taipei, where he specialized in rehabilitation. Lai then studied at the Harvard School of Public Health for a Master's degree in Public Health, followed by an internship at
National Cheng Kung University Hospital The National Cheng Kung University Hospital (NCKU Hospital; ) is a hospital in North District, Tainan, Taiwan. History NCKU Hospital was constructed in 1985 and opened to the public on 12 June 1988. In July 1993, it was upgraded to a medical c ...
. He became an expert on 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 Chen Ding-nan (29 September 1943 – 5 November 2006), sometimes transliterated Chen Ting-nan or referred to as David Chen, was an environmentalist, Taiwanese statesmen and Minister of Justice noted for his efforts to fight corruption and char ...
's unsuccessful electoral bid for Governor of Taiwan Province in 1994, Lai decided to enter politics himself. 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 The New Tide faction () was the centrist and largest faction of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan before the party voted to dissolve all factions in 2006. Though dissolved, it remains as the largest faction in the DPP. The faction i ...
and stood as a candidate in the 1998 Legislative Yuan election, representing the
Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...
in the second ward of Tainan City. He was successful in this election, and subsequently was reelected three times in
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
,
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
, and
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
. 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)


2010 municipal election

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 The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...
(DPP) primaries in January 2010, Lai stood as the DPP candidate for the
mayoral election Mayoral may refer to: * Mayoral is an adjectival form of mayor * Mayoral, a Spanish Children's Fashion Company * Borja Mayoral (born 1997), Spanish footballer * César Mayoral (born 1947), Argentine diplomat * David Mayoral (born 1997), Spanish f ...
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%.


Visit to Shanghai

Lai made in 5 June 2014 a visit to the city of Shanghai to assist an exhibition of art by the late Taiwanese painter
Tan Ting-pho Tan Teng-pho (; 2 February 1895 – 25 March 1947), was a Taiwanese painter and politician. In 1926, his oil painting '' Street of Chiayi'' was featured in the seventh in Japan, which was the first time a Taiwanese artist's work could be d ...
and met politicians of the Chinese Communist Party.


2014 municipal election

Lai stood for reelection on 29 November 2014 against
Huang Hsiu-shuang Huang or Hwang may refer to: Location * Huang County, former county in Shandong, China, current Longkou City * Yellow River, or Huang River, in China * Huangshan, mountain range in Anhui, China * Huang (state), state in ancient China. * Hwan ...
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.


Premier (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 approve 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 the Republic of China. 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 Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...
. 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, Lai 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 The 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (commonly referred to as ''Shíjiǔ Dà''; ) was held at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, between 18 and 24 October 2017. 2,280 delegates represented the party's estimated 89 mill ...
, 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 was trounced in local elections. Lai agreed to remain in office to help stabilize the government until the general budget was cleared by the
Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...
in January 2019. Lai's cabinet resigned on 11 January 2019 and Su Tseng-chang was appointed as new premier.


Presidential campaign

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 Ing-wen's offer to became 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)

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 Ing-wen 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 is expected to become the new party head in 2023.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lai, William 1959 births Living people Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Harvard School of Public Health alumni Members of the 4th Legislative Yuan Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan Members of the 6th Legislative Yuan Members of the 7th Legislative Yuan Mayors of Tainan 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 Taiwanese surgeons