The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is to nominate Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) as its candidate for next year’s presidential election after he beat Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) by 17 percentage points in the primary.
Han received an aggregated support rate of 44.805 percent in the polling, conducted from July 8 to Sunday, KMT Vice Chairman Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said yesterday at KMT headquarters in Taipei.
Gou received an aggregated 27.73 percent support, while former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) total was 17.9 percent, former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) got 6.02 percent and Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) 3.544 percent, Tseng said.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Poll data released by the KMT showed that Han’s support ratings were the highest when matched with fellow KMT members and with outside competitors.
When respondents were asked who of the five candidates they would vote for for president, more than 51 percent chose Han, while about 34 percent chose Gou and 13 percent chose Chu, the poll found.
Asked to choose between Han, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), 47.7 percent said they would back Han, 18 percent said Ko and 15.8 percent Tsai, it found.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Asked to choose between Gou, Tsai and Ko, 29.2 percent said Gou, 14.6 percent said Ko and 14.1 percent said Tsai, it found.
Asked to choose between Chu, Tsai and Ko, 20.7 percent said Chu, 18.8 percent said Ko and 15.6 percent said Tsai, it showed.
The poll was conducted by five polling companies and gathered a total of 15,185 valid samples via landlines, the KMT said.
At a news conference at KMT headquarters after the results were announced, Han thanked the party, his fellow candidates and his supporters.
“At this moment I feel no joy in my heart, only great pressure, given the huge challenges ahead,” he said. “With your help, I hope to take up the responsibility and work to create a better future for Taiwan, to safeguard the Republic of China — and to carve out a brighter and more fecund path for our future generations.”
He would review the policies proposed by the other candidates and adopt viable ones, but to ensure party unity, he planned to immediately contact his rivals and arrange visits with them, he said.
While the KMT has been discussing the removal of a clause in its charter requiring a member elected president to double as the party’s chairman, Han said he would “completely respect” the Central Standing Committee’s decision.
Asked if he would step down as mayor to prepare for the presidential campaign, Han said he would do his best to run the city.
“Please rest assured that I would not dare forget my responsibilities as mayor of Kaohsiung,” he said.
Asked about rumors that the Democratic Progressive Party had urged its supporters to back Han in the KMT poll, believing he would be easier to beat, the mayor said it is normal for parties to mobilize their supporters during primary polling.
“The KMT’s presidential primaries have never been unfair,” KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said, adding that this primary was the most transparent the party has ever held.
Han is to be formally nominated at the KMT’s national convention on July 28 after the Central Standing Committee reviews his nomination tomorrow.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a