Taiwan's presidential hopeful refuses to quit amid low support and rumours of KMT replacing her

Hung Hsiu-chu, the struggling presidential candidate of Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang, remained defiant on Tuesday and pledged she will not step down as the party’s candidate and will remain in the race right to the end.

“I will insist on my original intention to run for president and carry out my promise … even though some party members have tried to persuade me to quit,” Hung told a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Hung’s remark came just a few hours after the party’s chairman Eric Chu said that the party needed to look at the “likely success or failure of an individual” in the forthcoming presidential election after media reports had suggested it was considering ditching its struggling candidate.

Rumours that KMT is planning to replace Hung have been circulating since last week, with one claim saying that the KMT’s leadership had suggested that Chu stand for the presidency with Hung as his deputy, only for Hung to insist that he should act as her deputy.

“Until this moment, I couldn’t believe that [the rumours about me being replaced] were actually true,” Hung told the press conference.

She added that she would not accept any enticements to make her withdraw, including the suggestion that she should stand as a vice-presidential candidate and could have her campaign costs paid by the KMT.