00:00Giving a warm greeting in the local Haka dialect,
00:06President Lai Qingdeh addresses the nation from Taoyuan in the second of 10 planned speeches.
00:11The theme, unity.
00:13Lai is saying Taiwan has repeatedly come together to find success,
00:17from COVID-19 control to the world-leading semiconductor industry.
00:21And most importantly, there is turbulent democratization.
00:25Lai also continued the theme from his first speech,
00:27that people should embrace both the country's official name, the Republic of China,
00:32and its common name, Taiwan.
00:35But it was another line that drew all the headlines.
00:37We need to make a vote for once and once again,
00:42a vote for once and once again,
00:45like the鐵,
00:48as the same as the鐵,
00:49one and the other,
00:51a thousand and a hundred,
00:53a hundred and a hundred.
00:54The iron-striking metaphor,
01:06specifically the term impurities,
01:08seemingly linked to upcoming mass recall votes,
01:11against politicians from the opposition Kuomintang, or KMT,
01:14and Taiwan People's Party, or TPP,
01:17who together control Taiwan's legislature.
01:19On Tuesday, the KMT called out what he sees as hypocrisy from Lai
01:23and the party he leads,
01:25the Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP.
01:27The presidential office has responded to the mounting criticism,
01:43saying the metaphor has been used publicly before,
01:46and Lai was trying to emphasize uniting Taiwan against an external threat.
01:51With eight more unity talks left to give,
01:53Lai will be hoping the focus can return to bring the country together.
01:57Ryan Wu and Irene Lin for Taiwan Plus.
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