Lai and Cho to take budget fight to local levelBy Chen Yun and Jason Pan / Staff reportersPresident William Lai (賴清德) is to join Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators in holding public events around the country to promote the passage of this year’s general budget, a source said on Sunday. Cho plans to organize events in collaboration with local leaders to open up discussions about how the blocking of the budget by opposition party legislators would affect people’s livelihoods, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. President William Lai, right, shakes hands with a woman during a visit to a senior care center in Yilan County on Friday last week. Photo: Wang Chun-chi, Taipei TimesLai and Cho in the past few days have emphasized close cooperation between the central and local governments, they said. The DPP plans to commission surveys and publicize the results, to show that the actions of opposition parties to block the budget run contrary to mainstream public sentiment,” they said.

Source: Taipei Times January 06, 2026 17:19 UTC