President Lai Sends Off Cross-Party Delegation to U.S. Inauguration

TaiwanPlus News

President Lai Ching-te urged the eight-member cross-party delegation led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu to put on a show of unity as they attend the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Transcript

00:00President Lai Ching-de has met with a delegation of lawmakers that will represent Taiwan at

00:05Trump's inauguration.

00:08Tiffany Wong has been following the meeting and joins us live now from the newsroom in

00:13Taipei.

00:14Tiffany, what was Lai's message to these lawmakers?

00:21In a meeting at the presidential office today, President Lai Ching-de urged this cross-party

00:26delegation to put on a show of unity as they prepare to attend U.S. President-elect Donald

00:31Trump's inauguration.

00:33The delegation of eight is led by opposition heavyweight Han Kuo-yu, who is the Speaker

00:38of the Legislature here in Taiwan, and will also include three opposition lawmakers from

00:45the Kuomintang, as well as three from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, and one

00:49lawmaker from the smaller opposition, Taiwan People's Party.

00:54These three parties have been fighting throughout the past year, sometimes even coming to fists

00:59over divisive legislation.

01:02But President Lai used this moment to urge them to put aside their differences and overcome

01:08the country's internal conflicts as they prepare to represent Taiwan on the global stage.

01:14And he urged them to remember to uphold Taiwan's commitment to global democracy.

01:22In the complex and changing international situation, under the difficult challenges

01:31that our country is facing, I want to emphasize that there is no hatred that can't be let

01:40go, and there is no unhappiness that can't be overcome.

01:44The most important thing right now is unity.

01:49President Lai also urged the delegation to consult with Vice President Bi-Kim Hsiao,

01:55who had attended U.S. President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021, when she was Taiwan's

02:01de facto ambassador to the U.S.

02:05And Tiffany, why is the Speaker leading the delegation this time?

02:10Well, Taiwan typically sends the Speaker of the Legislature to the U.S. inauguration,

02:17so this is really a return to precedent.

02:20Vice President Bi-Kim Hsiao attended as the de facto ambassador in 2021 because of the

02:24COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan didn't send a full envoy from the country itself.

02:30Now, as the U.S. does not officially recognize Taiwan as one of its allies, it would be unusual

02:37if Taiwan sent anyone higher ranking official from perhaps the presidential office.

02:43But what's unusual this time is that Han is from the main opposition party.

02:48Now, Han did thank President Lai for this opportunity, and he said that he knew that

02:52he's not just representing the country at this time, but also the 23 million people

02:59of Taiwan.

03:00And he put forth his own goals for this delegation.

03:13Han emphasized many of the lawmakers' educational backgrounds in the U.S., as well as in other

03:31countries, and he said that he hoped that this could give them an international perspective

03:36and make significant contributions to the U.S.-Taiwan relationship.

03:40He also emphasized some of their contributions in fields like public health, where Taiwan

03:45stood out as a model during the COVID-19 pandemic.

03:49Now, while they're in the U.S., the delegation is also set to meet with other U.S. officials,

03:54as well as think tanks and the overseas Taiwanese community, hoping to begin their work in strengthening

03:59Taiwan-U.S. ties in this new administration.

Category

Transcript

Recommended