The presidency of Lai Ching-te is set to begin on 20 May 2024, when

Lai Ching-te William Lai Ching-te (; born 6 October 1959) is a Taiwanese politician who has been the Vice President of the Republic of China, Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2020. He served as a legislator in the Legislative Yuan from 19 ...

will be sworn in as 16th president of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

and the eighth president of the republic since it became established on the island of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, succeeding Tsai Ing-wen. Lai and running mate

Hsiao Bi-khim Hsiao Bi-khim (; born August 7, 1971) is a Taiwanese politician and diplomat who served as a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2002 to 2008 and again between 2012 and 2020. Since July 2020, Hsiao has been serving as the representative of the R ...

won the 2024 presidential election with 5.58 million votes, breaking the practice of two-term political party rotation with the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

since the first direct presidential election in 1996, and retaining the presidency for 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 ...

for a record consecutive third term. However, unlike the previous two-term

presidency of Tsai Ing-wen The presidency of Tsai Ing-wen officially began on 20 May 2016 when Tsai Ing-wen was inaugurated as the seventh and current president of the Taiwan. Tsai, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, took office following her landslide victory ...

, the DPP failed to obtain a majority of seats 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 ...

alone, making Lai Ching-te's government the second minority government since Taiwan's democratization. Upon taking office, Lai is due to be the third incumbent

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of Taiwan to become president, and the first to assume the office through election instead of a predecessor's death. Hsiao, the former Taiwanese Representative to the United States and a former member of the Legislative Yuan who will be sworn in on the same day as vice-president, will become Taiwan's first biracial vice president, having been born in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

to a Taiwanese father and European-American mother.

Administration

References

{{reflist Presidencies of the Republic of China