Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te has made a plea for unity amid political deadlock. His government does not have a majority in the legislature, and the opposition is scuppering his party's agenda. Now the president has called an unprecedented meeting between the heads of Taiwan's five branches of government.
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00:00Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te has met with the heads of all five branches of government
00:05as he tries to offset an increasingly divided political atmosphere.
00:09It's the first time talks like this have been called by the president.
00:13Louise Wat has been following the meeting for us and joins us live from our Taipei newsroom.
00:18Louise, the meeting just wrapped up half an hour ago.
00:21What did they discuss?
00:26Well, currently, there are officials from the presidential office.
00:30They're actually giving a press conference as we speak.
00:33So far, they've said that this meeting was about setting goals for the five branches of government,
00:38including not sacrificing the safety and security of Taiwan.
00:43But really, this meeting was all about President Lai trying to solve a political impasse
00:50that has been afflicting Taiwan for several months now.
00:54And it all stems from the fact that President Lai, his government, and the ruling party,
00:59they lost their majority in the legislature.
01:03Now, the key person who was there at that meeting today was Han Kuo-yu.
01:08He's the head of the legislature.
01:10Why was he key?
01:11Well, he was the only one of the five heads of government, of the branches of government,
01:16that's from an opposition party.
01:19Now, he has already given a press conference just straight after the meeting.
01:23And he said that Lai told him it was really important to solve all these political difficulties.
01:29Han said he told Lai in turn that it's really important,
01:34and he wants Lai to use his power to stop recall campaigns that are going on.
01:40That's campaigns to remove dozens of opposition lawmakers.
01:45Now, Lai, really with this meeting, what he wanted to do was impress on the public and the opposition
01:51the importance of unity.
01:53Before the meeting started, he actually alluded to world events.
01:58He said that he spoke about how the world is facing severe problems,
02:04an uncertain geopolitical environment, and also the rapid development of AI.
02:10And he said Taiwan itself also faces threats from China,
02:15including military intimidation and influence campaigns.
02:19And then he said this.
02:22So he's getting across his point, which is Taiwan's political parties have to be united.
02:30But again, this meeting today was between the heads of the branches of government.
02:35It wasn't with President Obama.
02:37It was with the leaders of the political parties.
02:40And it was with the leaders of the political parties.
02:43And it was with the leaders of the political parties.
02:46And it was with the leaders of the political parties.
02:48And it was with the leaders of the political parties.
02:50And it was with the leaders of the political parties.
02:52And it was with the leaders of the political parties.
02:54And it was with the leaders of the political parties.
02:56And again, this meeting was between the heads of the branches of government.
02:58It wasn't with President Lai and representatives of the opposition.
03:02So they haven't been able to agree anything that's going to see an immediate
03:07or even a quick end to the political impasse.