Vice President Lai Ching-te wraps up Palau state visit

Vice President Lai Ching-te wraps up Palau state visit

2022-11-03

Thursday was the last day of Vice President Lai Ching-te’s state visit to Palau. In a meeting before his return to Taiwan, Lai was asked about whether his visit to Palau was a sign that he had presidential ambitions in 2024. Lai said it was nothing of the sort, adding that he was simply traveling under orders of the president.

Several U.S. A-10 Thunderbolts zoom by one after the other. This place is the hotel at which Vice President Lai Ching-te stayed during his state visit to Palau. Several hours before Lai touched down, a number of U.S. military jets rushed from Guam to the island nation.

Lai arrives at a banquet. Turn around and a group of people that look like U.S. military troops are conversing to the side. The suspected presence of U.S. troops has given rise to much speculation.

Lai Ching-te
Vice president
I didn’t interact directly with any U.S. troops. When I was in private with President Surangel Whipps, he did mention collaboration with the U.S. military. Taiwan is on the first island chain, and Palau is on the second island chain. It’s a very strong relationship, involving a huge amount of cooperation. I hope we can continue working together to safeguard peaceful and stable development in the Indo-Pacific.

Day three of Palau, he attended an event to donate telemedicine equipment to Palau, and stood with local baseball stars at a baseball equipment donation ceremony. The Palau visit is the third time that Lai leads a state delegation outside Taiwan this year. It has been seen by some as a sign that he could be planning to run in the 2024 presidential election.

Lai Ching-te
Vice president
Taiwan is facing many challenges domestically and internationally. The president herself is extremely busy. She’s been unable to travel. So I travel in her place. It’s the natural course of action. So my three foreign visits this year were not done with the intentions of running in 2024. It is just my duty as vice president, to follow the orders of the president.

At every formal diplomatic event Lai attended in Palau, he referred to Taiwan as “R.O.C. Taiwan.” That has been interpreted by some as a sign that perhaps Lai’s political stance has become more moderate.

Lai Ching-te
Vice president
Taiwan is not part of China. This is the consensus of Taiwanese society. China’s understanding of the “Taiwan independence” is that if you are not in favor of uniting with China, you are in favor of independence. Meanwhile, the U.S.’ understanding of “Taiwan independence” is to carry out legal changes. So the U.S. and China differ on how they see the matter of “Taiwan independence.” That’s where this issue becomes complicated. Tsai Ing-wen once coined “four commitments,” which are basically agreed on by all of Taiwanese society. These have naturally become a very important path for Taiwan to take as we move forward.

In her National Day Speech in 2021, President Tsai had listed out Taiwan’s “four commitments.” They are the “commitment to a free and democratic constitutional system,” the “commitment that the R.O.C. and the PRC should not be subordinate to each other,” the “commitment to resist annexation or encroachment upon Taiwan’s sovereignty” and the “commitment that the future of the R.O.C. Taiwan will be decided in accordance with the will of the Taiwanese people.”