2024-01-13 16:52:45
The Taiwanese have chosen a doctor with gentle manners, Lai Ching-te, to navigate the choppy waters of the Strait of Formosa and revive the economy. The still vice president will continue the guidelines of his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, who leaves office after exhausting his two terms and the patience of Beijing. She is a terrible news for China, which irritates any president of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), from the arsonists like Chen Shui-bian to the sensible ones like Tsai.
The ruling party William Lai wins the Taiwan elections
It is not an easy challenge to take charge of Taiwan these days but Lai, 64, knows the adversity. He was born in a town in the north of the island and his father, a miner, died when Lai was two years old. From his mother’s efforts to raise six children, her official biography says, his work ethic and his sympathy for the underprivileged are born. He studied Medicine at the most prestigious Taiwanese university and received a master’s degree in Public Health from Harvard. He was already flirting with politics, always in the orbit of the DPP, when the missiles launched by China on an election eve pushed him to hang up his white coat. He became mayor of Tainan, a southern city, and was re-elected with 73% of the votes. He fought Tsai for leadership of the party and joined his team after losing. From the vice presidency, achieved in 2020, he prepared the definitive leap.
His stance has softened as he has acquired greater responsibilities. In China they still remember that years ago he defined himself as a “pragmatic fighter for independence” even though he has already adopted the official party line: the defense of the status quo and the rejection of the formal declaration of independence because it is already exercised de facto. It has not been enough to temper the Chinese press, which has called him an “extremist ruffian”, “liar” and “complete troublemaker”. China sees him even more “green”, that is, more pro-independence than Tsai, and he has predicted in recent weeks storms in the strait if elected. “Let us hope that our Taiwanese compatriots make the right decision,” their media had requested.
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