Lai Ching‑te

Willam Lai Ching‑te^[1] (born 6 October 1959), is a Taiwanese politician who is the President of Taiwan since January 2024. Lai has been the Vice President of Taiwan since 2020. He was a legislator in the Legislative Yuan from 1999 to 2010, and as Mayor of Tainan from 2010 to 2017, before taking office as Premier of Taiwan.

Lai Ching‑te
賴清德
Official portrait, 2024
8th President of Taiwan
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 May 2024
Premier	Cho Jung-tai
Vice President	Hsiao Bi-khim
Preceded by	Tsai Ing-wen
Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 January 2023
Secretary General	Hsu Li-ming Yang Yi-shan Lin Yu-chang
Preceded by	Chen Chi-mai (acting)
12th Vice President of Taiwan
In office 20 May 2020 – 20 May 2024
President	Tsai Ing-wen
Preceded by	Chen Chien-jen
Succeeded by	Hsiao Bi-khim
29th Premier of Taiwan
In office 8 September 2017 – 14 January 2019
President	Tsai Ing-wen
Vice Premier	Shih Jun-ji
Preceded by	Lin Chuan
Succeeded by	Su Tseng-chang
2nd Mayor of Tainan
In office 25 December 2010 – 7 September 2017
Deputy	Hsu He-chun
Preceded by	Hsu Tain-tsair
Succeeded by	Li Meng-yen (acting)
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office 1 February 2008 – 25 December 2010
Constituency	Tainan 2
In office 1 February 1999 – 31 January 2008
Constituency	Tainan City
Personal details
Born	(1959-10-06) 6 October 1959 (age 65) Wanli, Taiwan
Political party	Democratic Progressive Party
Spouse(s)	Wu Mei-ju
Children	2
Education	National Taiwan University (BS) National Cheng Kung University (MD) Harvard University (MPH)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	賴清德
Simplified Chinese	赖清德
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lài Qīngdé Wade–Giles Lai4 Chʻing1-tê2 IPA [lâi tɕʰíŋtɤ̌] Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Lai6 Cing1-dak7 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Loā Chheng-tek

On 24 November 2018, he announced his intention to resign from the premiership after the Democratic Progressive Party suffered a major defeat in local elections, and left office on 14 January 2019.^[2][3]

Lai was a successfull candidate for Vice President of Taiwan and the running mate of President Tsai Ing-wen in the 2020 Taiwan presidential election.^[4][5]

Lai was the successful Democratic Progressive Party nominee for President of Taiwan in the 2024 election, winning the election on 13 January 2024.^[6]

References

1. 賴淸德 [William Lai] (in Chinese). Legislative Yuan. 23 July 2013.
2. "Taiwan premier, cabinet to quit after local election trouncing". Channel NewsAsia. 10 January 2019. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
3. "林佳龍掌交部、陳良基接教長 蘇內閣下周一上工" (in Chinese). United Daily News. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
4. 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. Retrieved 21 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。
5. "Beijing 'interferes daily' in Taiwan's election, says Tsai Ing-wen". South China Morning Post. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 21 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 William Lai Ching-te, who has angered Beijing with his pro-independence comments.
6. Lau, Stuart (13 January 2024). "China skeptic wins Taiwan presidency in snub to Beijing". POLITICO. Retrieved 13 January 2024.