Taiwan’s ruling party has chosen Vice President William Lai as its next chairman, putting the self-described “political worker for Taiwanese independence” in line to be a top challenger in the next presidential election.
Lai won 99.65% of the total vote in an uncontested election, the Democratic Progressive Party said in a statement, securing the position that Tsai Ing-wen used as a springboard to the presidency.
Tsai is due to step down as president in 2024 due to term limits, prompting key figures in the DPP and opposition Kuomintang to begin jockeying for the right to replace her.
The “political worker” line that Lai has used in recent years is the type of rhetoric that angers Beijing, whose officials frequently lash out at the DPP for its “collusion” with the US, Taiwan’s main military supporter.
Like Tsai, the 63-year-old Lai has stated that Taiwan is already a de facto sovereign nation and therefore does not need to declare independence. That stance is aimed at allaying US fears that he might actually declare independence, a move that would likely cause China to respond militarily.
China under Xi Jinping has stepped up its economic, diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan, largely because Tsai rejects the “one country, two systems” governance model Beijing proposes.
The People’s Liberation Army nearly doubled the number of incursions that its warplanes made into sensitive areas near Taiwan last year. In August, it held unprecedented military exercises after Tsai met former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, drills that included sending missiles over the island.
The Biden administration has ramped up its military support for Taiwan. US lawmakers last month agreed to a spending bill that included $2 billion in weapons funding for Taiwan and as much as $10 billion through 2027.
The US and Taiwan are also trying to forge closer economic links. Officials from the two sides are meeting in Taipei until Tuesday in their latest round of discussions on issues such as trade facilitation and regulatory practices.
Lai is a medical doctor-turned-politician who was mayor of the southern city of Tainan from 2010 to 2017. He wrote Sunday on Facebook that his goal is “to unite the whole party and lead everyone to remake its image as an honest, diligent and grassroots party that guarantees quality of governance.”
The DPP post was open because Tsai stepped down as its head after defeat in local elections in November. Those races were dominated by issues such as cost of living and deaths from Covid, but China will play a larger role in the contest to be the next president.
Voters then will have to decide between a candidate like Lai, who will have a more confrontational relationship with Beijing, or likely someone from the KMT, who would adopt a more conciliatory approach.
