Former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday said that while populism is on the rise, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) are not populists.
Chu, who is vying against Han and Gou for the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential nomination, made the remark during a speech at Tamkang University’s annual academic conference on international affairs.
During a trip abroad, he was asked by a foreign academic about whether he thinks Taiwan is becoming more populist and his answer was yes, Chu said.
Photo: Tsai Ssu-pei, Taipei Times
The rise of populism around the world — as seen in the election of US President Donald Trump and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, as well as Brexit in the UK — has led to questions about the value of democracy, he said.
However, it is a temporary phase and eventually the values of democracy would prevail, he said, adding that people should remain confident in democracy as a system.
“We should avoid sayings such as the ‘Han tide’ or ‘the Typhoon,’ to prevent misunderstanding,” he added, referring to terms coined to describe the media frenzy surrounding Han and Gou, respectively.
When reporters after the speech asked Chu whether he thinks Han and Gou are populists, he said they are not.
While Han is “very accessible” to the public, Gou is a great entrepreneur, he said.
The two are not pure populists, he said, adding that it is good that they are in politics.
ONLINE SUPPORT
Asked whether he was aware that various Facebook fan groups for him and Han had converted to Gou fan groups, Chu said it was probably just the decision of an administrator and did not reflect the feelings of individual members.
“Fan numbers on my Facebook and Instagram accounts are still increasing,” he said.
Fans for Han, Gou and himself are all supporters of the KMT, and all party members must collaborate to support the final presidential nominee, he added.
Major Facebook groups that changed their support to Gou include a fan club for Han of nearly 30,000 members and a club for Chu with more than 10,000 members.
The groups switched allegiance on Friday and Tuesday respectively.
Asked to comment on the Facebook groups’ changing allegiance, Gou, who was at a festival for the goddess Matsu in Yunlin County, said that regardless of which KMT candidate wins the presidential election, “the most important win is the victory of Taiwan and the victory of the Republic of China.”
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