China

Jan 11, 2024

Lai Ching-te

Lai Ching-te, the vice president, is ahead in the polls. Can he keep the peace with Beijing?

Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s vice president and the leading presidential candidate, is sitting in a shabby office building in central Taipei trying to enjoy his bubble tea. But the college students around him tease: The boba might not be sugary enough for the former kidney doctor’s infamous sweet tooth.

The moment is unscripted and meticulously inoffensive—and very much on brand. Lai is trying hard to be a low-voltage continuity candidate in one of the most fractured races in Taiwan’s history. He’s soft-spoken and mild-mannered; setting aside his handsome, youthful face, he’s about as charming as, well, a former kidney doctor. Lai’s election could set up Taiwan for four more years of peace and prosperity. Or it could start a war that, as an opposition politician puts it, “opens the doors to hell.”