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Newsmakers: KMT believes in Huang Jun-ying

KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng, right, announced on Wednesday that the party had chosen Huang Jun-ying, left, to take on PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung to represent the pan-blue camp in the election for Kaohsiung mayor. PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

Despite Huang Jun-ying's (黃俊英) relatively low approval rating in opinion polls, the KMT has set its sights on the former Kaohsiung deputy mayor as its candidate for Kaohsiung mayor.

According to Pan Chia-sen (潘家森), head of the KMT's Kaohsiung City branch office, Huang has been the party's favorite for the position for four reasons: he has the least enemies, invites the least attacks from rival candidates, enjoys the highest degree of support from local political factions and stands the biggest chance to win the support of middle voters.

In addition to his connections to academia, the I-Shou University vice president and professor also enjoys links to the Kaohsiung community, fostered during his time as deputy major.

The party believes that experience will be crucial if Huang wins a bid to represent the pan-blue camp against DPP incumbent Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) in December.

"Huang never made an enemy during his four years as deputy mayor and he has never joined an election campaign before. We expect little resistance to Huang's future campaign," Pan said.

Huang himself is upbeat that his approval rating will continue to grow now that he has officially joined the campaign, in light of the fact that his rating had risen to 20 percent in a poll released last week from 0.8 percent a few months ago.

"The low rating is reasonable because I have served in academia over the past few years. I have not been a figure in the political scene and thus have had little media exposure. Opinion polls are basically a survey of one's notability," he said.

Academic beginnings

The 61-year-old Huang began his teaching career soon after he earned his doctorate in management at the University of Iowa in 1974.

Huang taught at National Chengchi University and California State Polytechnic University before he was recruited by former premier Sun Yun-suan (孫運璿) to join the Cabinet's Research, Development and Evaluation Commission in 1979.

During his eight years of service at the commission, he headed the Research and Development Department for one year after which he was promoted to the commission's vice chairman.

Huang, who was born in Kaohsiung City and moved to Yunlin County with his family at the age of four, finally had an opportunity to return to his hometown after he left the government.

He joined the faculty of National Sun Yat-sen University, located in Kaohsiung City, and it was during that time that he started to forge close connections with local communities.

As the dean of the college of management and of academic affairs, Huang earned a reputation for his active participation in the port city's affairs, joining and leading several private organizations devoted to urban development.

In 1995, Huang was appointed by then Kaohsiung mayor Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) to become Wu's deputy, with his professional training in management and his active involvement in the development of the city being cited as the major reasons behind his appointment.

Huang worked with Wu for four years until he rejoined the faculty at National Sun Yat-sen University after Wu lost his re-election bid to Hsieh in 1998.

Cross-party support

With the year-end mayoral race expected to become a showdown between the rival pan-green and pan-blue camps, a plus for Huang's bid against Hsieh is that he has the approval of many local politicians across party lines.

This includes the endorsement of former Kaohsiung City Council speaker Chen Tien-mao (陳田錨), who is the leader of one of three major political forces in the city and support from several politicians in the pan-green camp.

Lawyer-turned-legislator Su Ying-kwei (蘇盈貴) from the TSU, who got to know Huang during Huang's term as deputy mayor, has promised to campaign for Huang in defiance of his party's decision to support Hsieh.

Su was an environmental representative to a committee set up by the Kaohsiung City Government to screen the Chaishan nature park project during Huang's term and the two became close friends.

First the PFP then Hsieh

It is still uncertain, however, if Huang can beat the PFP's pick to become the KMT-PFP joint candidate for the post.

The PFP would like to see its candidate, party Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄), face Hsieh in December.

But at least one PFP member has broken ranks.

PFP Kaohsiung City Council Deputy Yang Se-yu (楊色玉) said Huang enjoys a high level of popularity among many people she has contacted.

"Many people thought that Huang wouldn't be a suitable candidate because he was lagging behind in opinion polls. As a matter of fact, Huang's possibilities are many," Yang said.

Liao Da-chi (廖達琪), a political scientist at National Sun Yat-sen University, who will serve as a publicity strategist for Huang's campaign, said Huang will focus on his policy platform and avoid engaging in unnecessary bickering with rival candidates.

He also said that if Huang wins the pan-blue camp's nomination against Chang, he will try to garner support for his candidacy by fostering an image of wanting to work together with the residents of Kaohsiung.

"Without any obvious liabilities or a factional background, Huang has a good image and will offer Kaohsiung residents a different choice," Liao said.
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