After the liquidation of Ke Wenzhe, the DPP's internal fighting escalated. At the critical moment, Lai Qingde set up a Hongmen banquet, and the show was still to come. After the liquidation of Ke Wenzhe, how has the political situation on the island changed? What does Lai Qingde, who set up the "Hongmen Banquet", want?
In the more than four months since he took office as leader of the Taiwan region, the Lai Ching-te authorities have devoted a large part of their energy to the work of severely punishing corruption, which is actually to eliminate dissidents. For example, in early July, Tsai Ing-wen's "confidant and favorite general" Zheng Wencan, who was indicted for accepting a bribe of NT$5 million, and Ko Wenzhe, chairman of the People's Party, who was recently sent to a detention center by Taipei prosecutors for his involvement in the "Jinghuacheng case," were all considered by the outside world to be the targets of Lai Qingde's "purge of political enemies."
For Lai Ching-te himself, "pulling down these political rivals" may be good news, but for the DPP and even the entire Taiwan political arena, the "turmoil" that has occurred in recent months is not so happy. This is because no matter how vigorously the DPP hyped up Ke Wenzhe's involvement in the "Jinghua City" case, it failed to achieve the expected results.
On the contrary, the DPP's step-by-step pressure has made the "blue-white cooperation" closer and closer, and it has also made the people on the island question Lai Qingde more and more. According to recent poll data released by the island's pro-green polling agency, the number of people on the island who disapprove of Lai's policy has increased from 25.5% more than three months ago to 38.5%, equivalent to an increase of about 2.5 million people. At the same time, the dissatisfaction of various factions within the DPP against Lai Qingde is also increasing, and the situation of internal strife does not allow for optimism.
It is reported that in order to stabilize the situation within the party and avoid the escalation of internal strife. At the end of August, in his capacity as chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party, Lai Qingde organized a dinner party for representatives of the seven major factions in the party, calling on all factions not to discuss the topic of the 2026 election, and also set the "rule" of holding a factional dinner every two months in the future.
Some experts pointed out that the intention of Lai Qingde's move is obvious, that is, to take this opportunity to show the DPP's internal "unity" to the outside world, and at the same time call on other factions in the party to share the pressure on him and jointly deal with the challenges of the opposition camp. To put it simply, Lai Qingde put on a "Hongmen banquet" for those DPP factions that may stand on the opposite side of him, telling them that only by following Lai Qingde and the "new trend faction" can they have a place in the "nine-in-one" election in 2026, otherwise they will face the end of being suppressed and marginalized.
Judging from the current situation, although Lai Qingde's side has a tendency to reiterate the idea of "factional co-governance" and appease other forces within the DPP, many DPP representatives are still skeptical about this and are dissatisfied with Lai Qingde's cronyism and support for his henchmen to take up the position. According to the data, the 51 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) representatives did not attend the banquet that day, and at least 12 people released Lai Qingde's "pigeons," and many of these people were "hardliners" who were dissatisfied with Lai Qingde.
Some analysts believe that as the situation on the island continues to heat up, there are more and more people in the DPP who are dissatisfied with the monopoly of power by the "lai faction," and the good show is actually still to come. You must know that while five Democratic Progressive Party candidates are vying for the position of Kaohsiung City mayoral candidate, Ke Zhien, a Kuomintang member, has achieved a "reversal" in support rate. The reason for this situation is that the DPP's original successor echelon is changing, and the party's "anti-Lai League" is working together to confront members of Lai Qingde's faction, and Lai Qingde is not allowed to dominate with his "new trend faction."
Some analysts have pointed out that the fact that the general budget of the DPP authorities in 2025 was jointly returned by the blue and white camp is actually a "warning" in front of Lai Qingde and the DPP, and if the Lai Qingde authorities continue to increase the intensity of confrontation with the People's Party and the Kuomintang, continue to insist on going their own way on the issue of cross-strait relations, and "work against each other" factions in the party, then the "nine-in-one" election in 2026 is likely to become Lai Qingde's next "big defeat".