 "Taiwan's ruling DPP nominates Lai Ching-te as 2024 presidential candidate")
Taipei: Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominated Vice President Lai Ching-te as its presidential candidate for 2024, just two days after China completed large-scale wargames around the self-governed island, reported The Associated Press.
At a nominating event on Wednesday, Lai pledged to uphold Taiwan’s claim to international recognition while advancing its high-tech industry and advocating for an effective government.
He said, “We must definitely continue to improve Taiwan’s investment environment,” reported AP.
However, dealing with China’s threats, which view Taiwan as their own territory that can be occupied by force if necessary, will be his most difficult task.
“A war over Taiwan would be a global disaster. As long as China maintains its military threats against Taiwan, we must continue to strengthen our national defence,” said Lai, according to AP.
After Tsai won the primary, Lai accepted her offer to be her running mate and the pair easily defeated the main opposition Nationalist Party in 2020.
Lai, 63, was a legislator, mayor of the southern city of Tainan, and Taiwan’s premier before challenging President Tsai Ing-wen for the party’s presidential nomination in 2019. He originally trained as a physician and holds a master’s degree in public health from Harvard.
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View AllFollowing Tsai’s victory, Lai accepted her offer to be her running mate, and the pair easily defeated the main opposition Nationalist Party in 2020.
Tsai is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.
It remains unclear who Lai will face in January’s election, with the Nationalists, also known as the KMT, yet to name a candidate. Among those most favored are businessperson Terry Gou who founded electronics manufacturer Foxconn, and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih who was formerly a top police official.
The Nationalists ruled Taiwan under martial law for decades after Chiang Kai-shek moved his government to the island as Mao Zedong’s Communist Party seized power in mainland China in 1949 amid a bloody civil war.
Following Chiang’s death in 1975, democratic reforms were gradually implemented, and direct presidential elections were held for the first time in 1996. Although the DPP and Nationalists have alternated in power, Tsai’s first election in 2016 also marked the first time the DPP gained a legislative majority.
China’s armed forces have been vastly strengthened under Xi Jinping, and warships and planes are routinely sent into the air and waters near Taiwan.
That threat was on display most recently when China’s People’s Liberation Army staged large-scale wargames over three days beginning Saturday, simulating an encirclement of the island in response to a meeting between Tsai and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on 5 April in California, according to AP.
With inputs from agencies
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