Taiwan elections: from landslide win to uphill task in a year – presidential hopeful Han Kuo-yu battles backlash

In the second of a five-part series on a presidential race that will affect Beijing’s relations with Washington as well as Taipei, the Post focuses on the KMT’s candidate

The embattled ‘runaway mayor’ is dividing opinion, while his mainland-friendly party is beset by division and being outmanoeuvred by Tsai Ing-wen’s DPP

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The embattled ‘runaway mayor’ is dividing opinion, while his mainland-friendly party is beset by division and being outmanoeuvred by Tsai Ing-wen’s DPP. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Published: 7:00am, 2 Jan 2020Updated: 8:54pm, 17 Feb 2020

“Reset Kaohsiung, defend Taiwan! Step down, Han Kuo-yu!”

The rallying cry from the thousands on the streets of Kaohsiung on December 21 did not stop at opposing Han’s campaign to win the Taiwanese presidency in January 11’s elections. It was a call to recall Han as the southern city’s mayor, only a year after he was elected in stunning style.

A colourful procession’s call-and-response chanting bore a similarity to a slogan from Hong Kong’s anti-government protests – “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” – with both using the Chinese word guangfu, meaning “liberate”, “reclaim” or “reset”.

Four kilometres north, another crowd, clad in the red, white and blue of Taiwan’s flag, chanted in support of Han, who organised the counter-rally to coincide with the protest against him. “Elect Han Kuo-yu! Kuo-yu, Kuo-yu, Han Kuo-yu! Elect, elect, elect!” they roared.

Thousands hit the streets of Kaohsiung to protest against KMT presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu. Photo: EPA-EFE

The scenes on the streets ahead of the presidential and legislative elections reflect the polarising nature of a populist figure who became the first in 20 years from the mainland-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party to lead a city that had been a stronghold of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

But despite his victory in November 2018, helped by an ardent fan base known as the Han wave, he has fallen behind in major polls for the 2020 presidential race against incumbent Tsai Ing-wen, even prompting Han to try to confuse the pollsters by asking his supporters to lie and say they would vote for Tsai.