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Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen chooses former premier William Lai as running mate
- Lai says he agreed to team up with Tsai to ‘continue to show the ray of light of democracy, show the way for Hong Kong and illuminate the world’
- Beijing tabloid once called for him to be arrested after he described himself as a ‘Taiwan independence worker’
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Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has named William Lai, a former premier who angered Beijing last year with his support for the island’s formal independence, as her running mate for the 2020 elections.
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Lai, who was premier until January when he stepped down after a crushing defeat for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in November’s regional elections, will be Tsai’s vice-president candidate, she told a news conference in Taipei on Sunday.
In April last year, Lai told parliament he was a “Taiwan independence worker” and that his position was that the self-ruled island was a sovereign, independent country.
The mainland China tabloid newspaper Global Times responded by saying Beijing should issue an international arrest warrant for him to face prosecution under the country’s 2005 Anti-Secession Law.
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Accepting Tsai’s nomination, Lai made no mention of independence, but said Taiwan had to stand up to pressure from an encroaching mainland China and “show the way” for Hong Kong, which has seen months of anti-government protests.
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