Figure of history? — No, just figure of fun

History is not short of great speeches. Among those by politicians, many have pushed the progress of human society by contributing insight, vision and courage.

But although he apparently intends to leave his mark on history with his 10 "uniting the country" speeches, Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te has only impressed the world with the frivolousness, contradiction and schizophrenia of his oral stunts with his two speeches so far, the second of which he gave on Tuesday.

In his first speech last week, Lai tried to sever the historical connections between the island of Taiwan and its motherland, saying it is a member of the Austronesian family, citing the millennia-long connection of its indigenous people to other Pacific islands.