The ruling party in Taiwan proclaims the vice president as its candidate for 2024

12 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The party that governs Taiwan has chosen the vice president, Lai Ching Te, as a candidate for the 2024 presidential elections, where he will aspire to continue with the line followed by the current president, Tsai Ing Wen, who will complete two consecutive terms next year.

For Lai, the new voice of the Democratic Progressive Party and who was already serving as leader of the party, the next elections will mark “the continuity of the democratic system, the happiness of future generations and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” according to the official news agency CNA.

The vice president was the only candidate in the internal primary process, so the Executive Committee of the formation limited itself this Wednesday to covering the process of proclamation of the candidacy. The change comes in a context of escalating tensions with China, which continues to claim sovereignty over the island.

Lai considers that “there is no need to declare itself independent” against Beijing, since in practical terms Taiwan “is already a sovereign and independent country.” Likewise, he has alleged that society mostly supports “the ‘status quo’ of democracy and freedom”, regardless of discrepancies over ties with Beijing.

The main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), for its part, appeals to what is known as the 1992 Consensus, by virtue of which the two parties maintain that there is “one China” even though they differ on the meaning of said doctrine. It was the basis of relations with Beijing between 2008 and 2016, when the KMT held the Taiwanese Presidency.