Sitting Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Lai Ching-te (賴清德) released a video of himself making Hakka-style food and speaking in the Hakka language on the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival.
The video is the second in a new YouTube series by the candidate. The first episode featured the candidate walking around Taipei and sampling snacks with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chair Laura Rosenberger.
The new video was released on the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival in Taiwan, a national holiday. It features Lai visiting a Hakka restaurant in Taoyuan City, which has the largest Hakka population in Taiwan. The video opens with the candidate speaking in the Hakka language, and making the traditional food of the festival, sticky rice dumplings known as zongzi (粽子), in the Hakka style.
The Hakka people are one of the major ethnic groups of Taiwan, with their own language, cuisine, and customs. According to the Hakka Affairs Council, about 20% of the Taiwanese population are Hakka, though less than half are able to speak the Hakka language.