DPP's William Lai, ‘Troublemaker’ Politician For China, Set To Become Taiwan’s President

The controversial “troublemaker” Vice President of Taiwan, DPP's William Lai, is set to become the president of the island nation after securing five million votes, according to local broadcasting stations. His victory was sealed after the opposition KMT conceded its defeat. "Thank you all. I tried my best, I'm very sad that I could not complete the change of government. I'm very sorry," said the KMT's Hou Yu-ih, cementing the electoral win for Lai.

Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party's Lai was leading by a whopping million votes in the island’s three-way presidential race. On Saturday, he garnered an estimated 4.6 million votes, the official tally suggests leaving the main opposition KMT behind by a million ballots. The Democratic Progressive Party frontrunner angered China after he made a brief US visit. Beijing describes him as the “separatist and troublemaker through and through.” The PRC also threatened to take strong steps to protect its sovereignty as it rebuked Lai for cozying with its rival US.

‘Politician who stubbornly adheres to separatist position of Taiwan’

Lai, set to be Taiwan’s next president, has donned a balancing act between Beijing and US. He was slammed by the Chinese foreign ministry as a politician who “stubbornly adheres to the separatist position of Taiwan independence.” The January elections in Taiwan are being viewed as the major global geopolitical watershed moment of 2024. Lai’s victory is the third successive win for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of Taiwan, and the party is viewed as having stringent hold on idea of the island’s sovereign rights while maintaining the close relations with the US Europe and other democratic forces that irk China.

PRC considers Taiwan as its own inalienable sovereign territory, and labels its rule as “core of China’s core interests.” Beijing’s sovereign claims on the island nation have ratcheted the tensions on the Taiwan Strait as the self ruled island seeks its reliance on the US to defence its territorial and sovereign integrity. The Harvard educated doctor, turned politician has been staunchly vocal about about Taiwan’s independence than the former President Tsai Ing-wen, a posture that Being slams as hostile attempt to separate the Taiwan, an integral part of China. Lai, during a n interview with the state broadcaster, said that “The Republic of China and PRC are not subordinate to each other.” He, on several occasions, reiterated that Taiwan was “not part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)”.