Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday made a surprise appearance at a public event also attended by KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), fueling the speculation that there is friction between the two over the party chairmanship election.
Hau, 64, the son of former premier and army general Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村), on Saturday announced on Facebook that he will run in the chairmanship election on May 20.
Hau’s office yesterday announced that he would attend an event hosted by the Blue Creek Society the same day, while the KMT Cultural and Communications Committee said Hung had no scheduled public appearances for the day.
However, Hung arrived ahead of the event while Hau was speaking with reporters.
It was the second time in less than a month that Hung showed up unannounced at a public event attended by Hau. Hau was hosting a news conference on Dec. 21 last year on the government’s plan to lift a ban on food imports from five Japanese prefectures, when Hung showed up unannounced.
The society is founded by veterans and has strong ties with the KMT’s Huang Fu-hsing (黃復興)comprised of veterans and their relatives.
Meanwhile, Hau yesterday said that if he is elected KMT chairman he will not run for president or any other position.
The party leader should lead the fight for “the KMT’s survival,” instead of having everyone fight for “their next position,” Hau wrote in a separate Facebook post yesterday.
“Only by promising not to use the chairmanship as a springboard to the next position can a leader be trusted to be selfless within the party,” he said.
In Saturday’s Facebook post, Hau said that the party, with “glorious days in the past century,” suffered a drubbing in the 2014 nine-in-one elections as well as last year’s presidential and legislative elections, which made him engage in soul-searching about the party’s fate.
He said that over the past two years, he has been hoping and waiting for a party leader to galvanize the disintegrating party, a leader who would make “selflessness” and “devotion” their mission and put the interests of the nation and the party above their own considerations.
Hau said he admired Hung for leading the party during its most difficult time, but added that he has also seen the party “on a downhill course.”
“I began to think, rather than wait, it is better to rise up and take action,” he said.
Former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) on Friday said that many party members have high expectations of him and have encouraged him “to take on responsibility at this difficult time for the KMT.”
If Wu decides to run, it will likely be a three-way election given that Hung has already announced that she will seek re-election.
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