Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday won the party’s chair election with 65,122 votes, or 50.15 percent of the votes.
It was the first time Cheng, 55, ran for the top KMT post, and she is the second woman to hold the post of chair, following Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who served from 2016 to 2017.
Cheng is to succeed incumbent Eric Chu (朱立倫) on Nov. 1 for a four-year term.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Cheng said she has spoken with the other five candidates and pledged to maintain party unity, adding that the party would aim to win the elections next year and in 2028.
The party is dedicated to providing peace and stability to Taiwanese and would focus on maintaining peace and safety across the Taiwan Strait, she added.
Chu said he congratulated Cheng on her victory, adding that he also spoke with the other candidates and thanked them for their contributions to the party.
Former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) came in second with 46,551 votes, or 35.85 percent of the votes; Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) finished third with 13,504, or 10.4 percent; Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) received 2,486, or 1.91 percent; former Changhua County commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源) got 1,944, or 1.5 percent; and former National Assembly representative Tsai Chih-hung (蔡志弘) received 260, or 0.2 percent.
“We hope that under new leadership our party would become stronger, more favorable among voters, and win the local elections next year and the presidential election in 2028,” Chu said.
Hau congratulated Cheng on her win, and urged the party to set aside its differences and consolidate support behind the new chairwoman.
Lo said he congratulated Cheng on her win, adding that the party chair election aimed to bring forth someone who could unite the party and take it to victory in the upcoming elections.
Chang said he hoped the new chair would bravely shoulder historical responsibility, lead the party to victory and usher in peace across the Strait.
Cheng could influence how Taiwan handles its relationship with Beijing and other key policies and domestic and international political matters. She will also anchor the party in the 2026 local elections.
During her campaign, Cheng pledged to turn KMT from a flock of "sheep" into "lions."
Cheng also said while campaigning that she wants "all Taiwanese people to be able to proudly and confidently say, 'I am Chinese.'"
She has also explicitly and repeatedly backed the so-called "1992 Consensus."
The "1992 consensus" refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is "one China," with each side having its own interpretation of what "China" means.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has never acknowledged the "1992 consensus," saying that Beijing does not recognize the Republic of China and acceptance of the understanding would imply agreement with China's claim over Taiwan.
In a news conference after the win, Cheng said the KMT would uphold the principles of equality, respect and mutual benefits in handling external relations.
"We must not let Taiwan become a troublemaker. Second, we must not let Taiwan become the sacrifice of geopolitics," she said, adding her party would also be a peacemaker.
She also called on the DPP to "stop playing the anti-China card" to manipulate elections.
"We should show the greatest sincerity and goodwill together to ease cross-strait confrontation and differences and ensure there is no more war across the Taiwan Strait," Cheng said.
"I believe this is a shared responsibility of all political parties in Taiwan," she added.
Responding to media queries about the allegations by some political figures that the KMT has been "red- leaning" and appears to be "controlled by China," Cheng said those were "very cheap labels."
"Whenever elections come, they rush to slap 'anti-China' and 'China-bashing' red labels [on the KMT], and that does nothing to advance Taiwan," she said.
"On the contrary, it has become the biggest source of infighting and stagnation in Taiwan." Cheng said, urging politicians not to irresponsibly use "red labels" as a weapon in political fights.
The KMT chairperson election had become heated when Hau last week called for an end to attacks online against him and his supporters, which he said involved fake accounts and artificial intelligence (AI)-generated material.
“Foreign forces” and “fellow party members” were spreading false content to smear his campaign, Hau said.
Chang said that Cheng was behind the attacks and called on her to “admit it if you did it, and deny it if you did not.”
KMT heavyweight and media personality Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) said the election has been met with “an overwhelming wave of Chinese intervention,” adding that if Beijing “succeeds in influencing the KMT chair election, the party is finished, and by extension, so are Taiwan and the Republic of China.”
Cheng entered politics as a DPP member, but left in 2002 and joined the KMT in 2005. She was a legislator from 2008 to 2012, and from 2020 to last year, and served as Executive Yuan spokesperson from 2012 to 2014 during the administration of then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Following Cheng's victory, Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), chairman of the smaller opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP), said in a news release yesterday that he hoped the TPP and KMT would deepen exchanges, gradually build mutual trust, and establish a model of coalition governance.
DPP spokesperson Wu Cheng (吳崢) said in a news release that the party hopes the KMT will exercise rational oversight in the Legislature, put the national interest above party interests, and work together to handle the current national security challenges posed by China's infiltration.
Additional reporting by agencies
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