William Lai = Ma Ying Jeou?
Not only William Lai, pretty much all the presidential contesters are now regurgitating Ma Ying Jeou's 3 Nos policy in different forms. Basically do not actively seek independence or re-unification, wrap around the existing ROC flag, pursue peace and cooperation with China etc.
From his political track record so far, I think it's fair to say William is at the end of the day a slimy politician rather than a hardcore ideologue i.e. he will say whatever he needs to say as long as it helps him to get elected.
When he first burst into the scene, he was an independence extremist brandishing a Taiwan Independence Banzai! bandana. This then slowly became what he self-professed as "pragmatic" person pursuing independence. When he needed to contest against Tsai for the DPP leadership, he happily sold the idea that pursuing cordial relationship with China is the right way to protect Taiwan instead of Tsai's antagonistic stance towards China.
After he lost the leadership tussle, he went back to the "pragmatic" independence shtick again. Now that he is the appointed successor to Tsai, he is becoming increasingly aggressive in turning the DPP ship towards what is traditional KMT political grounds. It helps greatly that the real independence ideologues are mostly founding DPP oldies who have more or less all died out.
Lai's a smart cookie who knows when to say what and do what. As long as China keeps up the pressure and US influence continues to diminish, I wouldn't be surprised that one day he could even be blue-er than the likes of Eric Choo and Ker Wen Tze. From a geopolitical POV, the Taiwanese election is inconsequential and it doesn't matter who wins. George Yeo is right in this regard.