On June 18, the China Central Television (CCTV) political talk show The Two Sides of the Strait (海峽兩岸) aired an episode about Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), discussing the reasons his popularity was flagging. It caused much debate.
The same week, Beijing mouthpiece China Times published a column on its Web site reviewing Han’s anti-China remarks at a campaign rally in Yunlin County on June 15, when he said that “one country, two systems” would never happen “unless it is over my dead body.”
Last week, Next Magazine ran a feature story that said Want Want China Times Group chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明) had told a meeting with top executives on June 13 that if Han could not boost his approval rating, perhaps the group should withdraw its support and focus on Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) instead.
The report also said that while Tsai was re-evaluating his support for Han and Ko, his dislike of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) was as strong as ever.
To a certain degree, the Chinese leadership and Taiwan’s pro-China media outlets have told Han to revive his flagging support.
On one hand, they want him to restrain his increasingly uncontrollable fans and stop using them to manipulate the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) leadership. On the other, they are clearly saying that his fans could cause a KMT split in the future.
Despite Gou’s claim that Han is his “buddy,” the confrontation between the pan-blue camp’s intellectuals and grassroots supporters is becoming increasingly obvious. It is likely to be difficult to quickly resolve the “class struggle” between the KMT nobility and the common people that is going on in the background.
In the days before the KMT’s July 8 to 14 presidential primary, Han’ss and Gou’s fans will inevitably do battle on various issues.
If the prospect of unity does not look good after the primary, it seems the best scapegoat has already been chosen. In addition to Han’s fans, Han himself might have to take the blame.
The CCTV show focused on Han’s supporters, rather than Han, probably to help him save face.
In March, CCTV news heaped praise on Han when he visited Beijing’s liaison offices in Hong Kong and Macau.
However, the situation has changed. As stated in the China Times column, Han’s rejection of the “one country, two systems” might hurt Kaohsiung’s cross-strait exchanges and push Chinese aid away.
However, if pro-Han media outlets led by Want Want really switch support to Ko, they might create confrontation and confusion between Han’s and Ko’s fans.
Exiled Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui (郭文貴) recently said that Beijing is aiming at Taiwan’s presidential election with “three guns” — Han, Gou and Ko.
Right now, the three are targeting each other, and this is beneficial to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) re-election.
As the president faces the three KMT candidates, the pro-Taiwan camp still needs the full support of all Taiwanese to safeguard the nation’s hard-earned democracy.
Chen Kuan-fu is a graduate law student at National Taipei University.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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