Lai was born on 6 October 1959,[3] inWanli, a rural coastal town in northern Taipei County (nowNew Taipei City).[4] He was the youngest child in a poor family of five children.[1] His mother, Lai Tong-hao (賴童好), was the daughter of a local landlord. His father, Lai Chao-chin (賴朝金), was a poor coal miner whose parents immigrated fromGukeng,Yunlin.[5] Theirancestral home was inBanzai, Fujian.[6] When Lai was two years old,[7] his father died ofcarbon monoxide poisoning[8] in amining accident.[9] Afterwards, Lai's widowed mother raised him and his siblings as asingle parent in a two-story dwelling.[4]
After serving as part of the support team forChen Ding-nan's unsuccessful electoral bid forGovernor of Taiwan Province in 1994,[22] Lai decided to enter politics and leave his medical career.[23] The next opportunity for election to a national body was the 1996National Assembly, with Lai winning a seat representing Tainan City. Lai then joined theNew Tide faction and stood as a candidate in the1998 Legislative Yuan election, representing the Democratic Progressive Party in the second ward of Tainan City.[24][20] He was successful in this election, and subsequently was reelected three times in2001,2004, and2008. In total he served 11 years as a legislator, and was selected as Taiwan's "Best Legislator" four times in a row byTaipei-based NGO Citizen Congress Watch.[25]
With the 2010 reorganization of the municipalities in Taiwan, Tainan City andTainan County were amalgamated into a single municipality, calledTainan. After successfully being selected in theDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP) primaries in January 2010,[26] Lai stood as the DPP candidate for themayoral election on 27 November 2010, gaining 60.41% to defeatKuomintang candidate Kuo Tien-tsai.[27][28] He took office on 25 December 2010.
As a result of his strong showing in the mayoral election coupled with his relative youth and his control of the DPP heartland city of Tainan, Lai was considered to be a potential candidate for a presidential run in 2016.[29] In 2013 an opinion poll ranked Lai as the most popular of the 22 city and county heads in Taiwan, with an approval rating of 87%.[30]
Lai made on 5 June 2014 a visit to the city of Shanghai to assist an exhibition of art by the late Taiwanese painterTan Ting-pho and met politicians of theChinese Communist Party.[31][32]
Lai stood for reelection on 29 November 2014 against Huang Hsiu-shuang of the Kuomintang. His opponent was considered to have such an uphill task in the DPP stronghold that she rode a black horse through the streets of Tainan as an election stunt; a hopeful allusion to her status as a "dark horse".[33] Lai, on the other hand, did not plan many campaign activities, choosing to focus on mayoral duties.[34] He eventually won the election by 45 percentage points,[35][36] the largest margin of victory in any of themunicipal races in the election.[37]
Lai stepped down as Mayor in September 2017, after being appointed to the Premiership.[38] He was succeeded in acting capacity byLee Meng-yen.[39][40]
Premier William Lai leads the cabinet during the swearing-in ceremony
In September 2017, PremierLin Chuan tendered his resignation to PresidentTsai Ing-wen, which was reluctantly accepted. A recent poll showed Lin's approval rating to be a mere 28.7%, with 6 in 10 respondents dissatisfied with the performance of his cabinet.[41] On 5 September, President Tsai announced at a press conference that Lai would become the country's next head of the Executive Yuan.[42]
Lai took office on 8 September as the 49th Premier of Taiwan.[43] Following Lai's appointment as premier, Tsai's approval ratings reached 46%, rebounding by more than 16 points since August.[44] Lai made his first appearance as premier at the Legislative Yuan on 26 September, where he stated "I am a political worker who advocates Taiwan independence" but that "We are already an independent sovereign nation called the Republic of China. We don't need a separate declaration of independence".[45][46] Lai has appeared to have moderated his position onTaiwanese independence particularly when he proposed the idea of "being close to China while loving Taiwan" in June 2017.[47] He also expressed no desire to run against Tsai Ing-wen in the 2020 presidential election.[48] On 28 September, theNew Party called on the KMT to join it in filing a formal complaint against the Premier forsedition.[49]
In October 2017, it was reported that Lai had garnered the approval of 68.8 percent of respondents in a survey, while 23 percent expressed dissatisfaction.[50] However, critics say that his popularity may not last, due to his rapid reversal of his position on the issue of Taiwanese independence.[51] However, on 20 October, in response to General SecretaryXi Jinping's comments on the one China policy and the 1992 consensus at the19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Lai said that the Taiwanese government, following the directives of Tsai Ing-wen, would fulfill its promise of not changing the status quo between the two neighbors and not ceding before pressure from Beijing, which comes in the form of military intimidation and an international blockade.[52]
William Lai (center) with Ethan Tu (left) andHuang Wei-che (right) in January 2019
In November 2018, Lai tendered his resignation to the president, after the ruling DPP performed poorly in local elections.[53] Lai agreed to remain in office to help stabilize the government until the general budget was cleared by theLegislative Yuan in January 2019.[54][55] Lai's cabinet resigned on 11 January 2019 andSu Tseng-chang was appointed as new premier.[56][57]
On 18 March 2019, William Lai registered to run in the Democratic Progressive Party presidential primary, saying that he could shoulder the responsibility of leading Taiwan in defending itself from being annexed by China.[58] This is the first time in Taiwanese history where a serious primary challenge has been mounted against a sitting president.[59] The results of the DPP's primary poll released on 13 June shown that Tsai defeated Lai by winning 35.67 percent of the vote over Lai's 27.48 percent, officially becoming the DPP's presidential candidate for the 2020 election.[60]
In November 2019, Lai accepted President Tsai's offer to become her running mate for the2020 presidential election.[61][62][63] Tsai secured over 57% of the ballot, winning a record 8.17 million votes in the election and began her second term in 2020.[64][65]
During his vice presidency, Lai served as President Tsai Ing-wen's special envoy to Honduras for presidentXiomara Castro's inauguration in January 2022.[66] After the assassination of former Japanese prime ministerShinzo Abe, he made a private trip to Tokyo to pay his respects and became Taiwan's most senior official to visit Japan in five decades.[67] In November 2022, Lai led representatives of Taiwan's travel agencies and industry associations toPalau to foster collaborations between the two countries.[68]
In November 2022, President Tsai resigned as leader of DPP after the party's heavy losses inlocal elections.[69] Lai officially registered as a candidate for the DPP chair election in December.[70] Since Lai was the only candidate running, he became the newchairman of the DPP in 2023.[71][72]
In March 2023, Lai registered as the only person to run in the DPP's 2024 presidential primary and was officially nominated by the ruling party in April.[73][74] On 21 November 2023, Lai formally registered his campaign at theCentral Election Commission along with his running mate,Louise Hsiao.[75] Lai claimed victory in a three-way race on 13 January 2024, marking the first time that a political party had won three consecutive presidential terms sincedirect elections were first held in 1996.[76] However, the DPP lost its majority in thelegislative election.[77]
Under Lai, Taiwan continued the previous administration'sNew Southbound Policy, signing an investment pact withThailand in June 2024. Thailand became the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since the announcement of the policy in 2016.[81]
Lai stated that the ROC and the PRC are not subordinate to each other.[82] He reaffirmed the island's commitment to resisting Chinese annexation, emphasizing its sovereignty during National Day celebrations. He also expressed hopes for dialogue with Beijing, despite ongoing military pressure and tensions.[83][84] In 2025, Lai announced plans to reinstate military trials for active-duty personnel and labeled China a "foreign hostile force" under theAnti-Infiltration Act.[85][86]
Previously, Lai was viewed as a "deep green" member of the DPP, advocating forTaiwanese independence.[87] As the mayor of Tainan, Lai called himself a "pragmatic worker for Taiwanese independence" and argued it was possible to "love Taiwan while having an affinity to China".[88][89] He has since moderated his position, saying that there was no need to declare independence as "Taiwan is already a sovereign, independent country called the Republic of China."[90] Lai advocates strengthening Taiwan's relations with theUnited States and otherliberal democracies.[91] Lai considers both titles of "Taiwan" or "Republic of China" that can be used equitably and interchangeably in respect of the country name.[88]
Lai marriedWu Mei-ju in 1986. Wu worked forTaipower, and was based in Tainan until Lai was elected mayor of the city, and she transferred to Kaohsiung.[92][93] The couple raised two sons.[94]
Lai′s first grandson was born in the United States in 2020.[95]
^2009民進黨提名縣市長候選人連結 (in Chinese). Democratic Progressive Party. 17 September 2010. Archived fromthe original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved30 November 2010.
^陪同高雄立委聯合登記 賴清德：國會過半 蔡總統更有實力守護台灣 卓榮泰：再次八仙過海，贏下高雄戰場.民主進步黨 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 19 November 2019.Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved21 November 2019.民主進步黨主席卓榮泰今（19）日早前往高雄，與副總統參選人賴清德，出席「八仙過海、高雄大贏」民進黨高雄市8席立委聯合登記記者會，與民進黨8位高雄市立委參選人邱議瑩、邱志偉、劉世芳、林岱樺、李昆澤、趙天麟、許智傑和賴瑞隆登記參選。
^"Beijing 'interferes daily' in Taiwan's election, says Tsai Ing-wen".South China Morning Post. 19 November 2019.Archived from the original on 20 November 2019. Retrieved21 November 2019.China sailed an aircraft carrier group through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Sunday, the same day Tsai announced her running mate, former premier Lai Ching-te, who has angered Beijing with his pro-independence comments.
^Teng, Pei-ju (27 December 2023)."ELECTION 2024/Lai's wife makes rare public appearance to endorse husband".Central News Agency.Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved28 December 2023.After marrying Lai in 1986, Wu maintained her low-key lifestyle even after her husband entered politics in the 1990s. According to local media reports, Wu applied to be transferred from Taiwan Power Company's Tainan office to Hsinta Power Plant in Kaohsiung after Lai was elected Tainan mayor in 2010 to avoid any conflict of interest.
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