Taiwan: Taiwan president 'troublemaker' – Lai Ching-deo's 'unexpected' political career

64-year-old Lai Ching-te, a doctor from a poor mining family, is considered a “serious danger” by Beijing, Taiwan's new president, but how this one-time doctor was able to start his “unexpected career” in politics and become the head of the island's government.

On Saturday, Lai Ching-te, the current vice-chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), won an election widely viewed around the world as China's fierce backlash against him.

China considers Taiwan one of its provinces and has urged voters to make the “right choice”, with its military vowing to “crush” any sentiment for “independence”.

Lai called her entry into politics an “unexpected journey” and was able to break an “eight-year curse”.

Lai, who has long faced Beijing's ire for asserting Taiwan's sovereignty, said he has “an important responsibility as president to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” vowing to continue dialogue with China under the principles of dignity and equality.

“At the same time, we are committed to protecting Taiwan from China's continued threats and intimidation,” he told reporters before his victory speech.

The highest tension since 1996

For years under Xi Jinping, China's most assertive leader, Beijing has increased diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Taiwan, which it views as its own territory that can be seized by force if necessary.

Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have been at their highest since 1996, when China fired missiles off Taiwan's coast to intimidate voters ahead of the island's first independent presidential election since decades of authoritarian rule.

For Lai, a young doctor at a university hospital in the southern city of Tainan, the missile crisis was his “defining moment”.

“I am committed to participating in Taiwan's democracy and protecting this new experiment from those who seek to harm it,” he wrote in The Wall Street Journal last year.

He was able to break the eight-year curse

Lai eventually decided to hang up his doctor's robe to enter the political arena. Tsai Ing-wen.

The doctor-turned-politician has now broken the “eight-year curse” in Taiwanese politics (until Lai's victory, a popular term used to refer to the fact that no political party from Taiwan had been in power for more than two terms before the republic).

Lai called his entry into politics an “unexpected journey”. Growing up in poverty in a mining village near Taiwan's northern coast, he dreamed of becoming a doctor since childhood. He had five siblings and his mother raised them alone doing odd jobs. His father, a miner, died in a work accident when Lai was a young child.

Lai was too young to remember his father. “But one day I suddenly realized that the greatest good my father left me was that my family was poor,” he said at an event last March. CNN.

“Growing up in such a family, we will be more mature and have more will and courage to face difficulties,” he added.

After graduating in physical medicine and rehabilitation in Taipei, Lai went to medical school in Tainan.

Barriers to entry into politics

He was a few years into a promising career as a doctor in Tainan when a local DPP official approached him and asked the famous doctor to help a party politician campaign for a local election.

It was 1994, less than a decade after the DPP first emerged from Taiwan's pro-democracy movement against the authoritarian regime of the Kuomintang (KMT).

The KMT, which fled mainland China to the island after losing a civil war to communist forces, ruled Taiwan with an iron fist for nearly four decades before martial law was lifted in 1987 and a slow transition to free elections. Tens of thousands of political opponents were killed or imprisoned during the so-called “White Terror”. The DPP was formed by many veterans who campaigned for democracy.

Lai agreed to help the DPP in the local elections, but the candidate eventually lost. A year later, some pro-democracy activists invited him to join the TPP and contest for the Assembly.

“Wouldn't it be better to actually do something for Taiwan instead of criticizing the then government from my clinic?”

He rejected the idea at first. “I was born and raised in a rural, poor place and always wanted to be a doctor. Now, I have finally become a chief physician,” he said in a campaign video.

But his political friends refused to give up. A few months later, a crisis erupted across the Taiwan Strait, with China conducting live-fire drills and firing missiles toward Taiwan, giving Lai the final push to cross the border.

“I was full of doubts and worries about the future of this country. Instead of criticizing the then government from my clinic, wouldn't it be better to follow the vanguard of the democracy movement and do something for Taiwan? I also thought that in this life, if I can find a project that I am passionate about starting, it will be a life worth living,” he added.

China never forgave him

China made no secret of its desire to prevent Lai's victory during the election. Chinese officials have repeatedly called the election result a choice between “peace and war,” echoing comments by Beijing's preferred candidate Hu Yu-yi of the KMT, who ran against Lai for causing “controversies and conflicts” during his campaign. .

Lai, who belongs to the DPP's radical wing, was once an outspoken supporter of Taiwan independence — a red line for Beijing.

His views softened as he rose through the ranks, but China has never forgiven him for his comments six years ago, when he described himself as “practically a Taiwan independence activist.” Lai now says he supports the status quo, declaring that “Taiwan is already an independent sovereign country” and therefore has “no plan or need” to declare independence.

This deliberately nuanced stance reflects the progenitor of the tilt, Taiwan's first female president, who was unable to run again due to term limits.

Beijing has severed official communications with Taipei since Tsai took office in 2016 and stepped up a campaign to isolate Taiwan internationally, a move that looks set to continue when Lai takes office in May.

“dangerous separatist”, “troublemaker” and “militant” for Beijing

In many ways Beijing's rhetoric toward Lai is more hostile than condescending. China's government and state media have used “harsh words” about Lai, calling him a “dangerous separatist”, “troublemaker” and “warmonger”, while rejecting his repeated offers to talk. One such offer was made to China's top leader, Xi Jinping.

In May last year, during a question-and-answer session with students at National Taiwan University, Lai mentioned Xi as the head of state, saying he would like to have dinner and advised the Chinese leader to “relax” if given the chance. Little.”

“There is no need to be so distressed. Asked about Lai's call, Beijing called her comments “strange” and accused her of “trying to wear a cloak of benevolence” because her “independent Taiwan character” had not changed.

Xi's tactics alienate the Taiwanese from China

Lai won 40% of the vote, the KMT 33% and the new opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP) 26%.

The DPP lost its majority in parliament, losing 51 of the 113 seats, meaning Lai is seen as more restrained than Sai and must rely on political alliances to pass bills.

Hours after Lai announced victory, China rejected the election result in Taiwan, saying the DPP “does not represent mainstream public opinion” on the island.

But this claim cannot be over mainstream Taiwanese public opinion.

Under Xi's tactics, the Taiwanese people decisively distanced themselves from China. Less than 10% now support immediate or eventual unification, and less than 3% identify as primarily Chinese.

The majority of Taiwanese want to maintain the status quo and do not want to be ruled by Beijing.

“They have been bullying us for years. I cannot bear to bow to their demands and interfere in our elections. We want to protect our free way of life and democracy,” Yang Wei-ting, a 27-year-old civil servant, said amid cheers and celebrations at the Lai rally.