Former Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corp president Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) yesterday announced that he is running for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship.
Han made the announcement at a news conference a day after he tendered his resignation from his company post.
Shortly after making the announcement, Han turned and hugged a stack of cabbages behind him, saying that it was a symbolic gesture representing his embrace of public opinion.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The former politician, known for his combative style, said that over the past few years he never ignored public opinion from the grassroots level and that if the KMT does not take public opinion seriously, it will lose support.
Earlier that day, Han said in a statement that he was willing to run for mayor in Tainan or Kaohsiung in next year’s local elections if no suitable KMT candidates step forward.
“Give me a place to stand and I shall move the Earth,” Han said, partially quoting Greek scientist Archimedes.
He added that he will reform the entire KMT and give Taiwan a “healthy political party.”
The former three-term lawmaker also proposed that the KMT put all of its assets into a trust, and deal with related issues through legal processes.
He said that if he is elected KMT chairman, he will make party assets transparent.
Han also called for party reform, suggesting that the party’s structure be streamlined into four departments: a chairperson’s office; an organizational department; a public opinion, policymaking and public relations department; and an overseas liaison department.
Han, 59, is the fourth hopeful to enter the race after former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱).
When he was a member of the Legislative Yuan in the 1990s, he once physically attacked fellow lawmaker Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who became president of Taiwan in May 2000.
At the time, Han said he became aggressive to counter the violent behavior of Chen’s colleagues in the then-opposition Democratic Progressive Party.
The KMT election is slated for May 20.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
LUCKY DATE: The man picked the 10th ‘Super Red Envelope’ in a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10 A man who recently broke up with his girlfriend won a NT$1 million (US$32,929) prize in the “NT$20 million Super Red Envelope” lottery after picking a card based on the date of their breakup, Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The man, in his 20s, bought the 10th ticket at a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10, the store owner told the lottery company. The “Super Red Envelope” lottery was a limited offering by the company during the Lunar New Year holiday, which ended yesterday. The cards, which cost NT$2,000 each, came with
TOURISM BOOST: The transportation system could help attract more visitors to the area, as the line is to connect multiple cultural sites, a city councilor said Residents in New Taipei City’s Ankeng District (安坑) said the local light rail system might have a positive influence, but raised questions about its practicality. The Ankeng light rail system, which is to commence operations after the Lunar New Year holiday, would cut travel time for commuters from Ankeng to downtown Taipei or New Taipei City by 15 to 20 minutes, the city government said. According to the initial plan, there would be one train every 15 minutes during peak time and additional interval trains would run between the densely populated Ankang Station (安康) and Shisizhang Station (十 四張). To encourage people to
CHAMPION TREES: The team used light detection and ranging imaging to locate the tree, and found that it measured a height of 84.1m and had a girth of 8.5m A team committed to finding the tallest trees in the nation yesterday said that an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree had been named the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia. The Taiwan Champion Trees, a team consisting of researchers from the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), in June last year used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging to find the giant tree, numbered 55214, upstream of the Daan River (大安溪). A 20-member expedition team led by Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, set out to find the
RSS