Amid government disputes, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) extended an invitation to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Wednesday to meet at the Presidential Office for coffee before Han leads a delegation to the United States for Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The announcement came after Lai’s 2025 New Year’s Address. Lai stated that the president’s job is to unite the government and opposition, resolving differences.
Han responded by thanking Lai for the invitation, stressing the importance of building mutual trust and harmony between the ruling and opposing parties for smooth legislative operation that benefits the people. Han wished for a happy new year and an increasingly better Taiwan.
Regarding meeting for coffee to overcome differences, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) expressed their support, while the Kuomintang (KMT) expressed their doubts.
DPP legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) said he is pleased with Lai using his position as president to try to resolve legislative disputes. Tsai added that it’s beneficial to Taiwan’s progress and can help protect the nation’s democracy from being undermined by the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) coalition.
While KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said she was happy to see Lai set aside his quandaries and be willing to speak to Han about national affairs, she also said she suspects a good cop, bad cop act between Lai and DPP Majority Leader Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘). Ker had threatened to take legal action against Han this week should he not transfer three recently passed amendments to the executive branch in line with the Constitution.
The political disputes that are anticipated for discussion include the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) that were passed by a coalition between the KMT and TPP. Health Minister Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) says the fiscal planning law would cause public health and social welfare funds to shrink, including childcare subsidies and funding for cancer screenings and medication.