Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) yesterday said that he supports the Republic of China (ROC) and opposes the “one country, two systems” model.
Han made the remarks during a question-and-answer session at the Kaohsiung City Council, where various city councilors of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and New Power Party confronted him on his unreported visit to China’s liaison office in Hong Kong last month.
Han, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), said that his visit to the Chinese Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was to show respect for China’s travel arrangements.
Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang, Taipei Times
The conversations that he had with Chinese officials there were just “friendly exchanges about casual matters,” he said, adding that they did not talk about anything related to politics.
When asked whether he would run for president next year, Han said that running for president “is currently not in my plan,” adding that he is focused on improving Kaohsiung’s economy.
Asked about his stance on China’s “one country, two systems” framework, Han said that he supports the ROC and opposes the framework.
When DPP Kaohsiung City Councilor Lin Chih-hung (林智鴻) repeatedly asked him to reaffirm his responses, Han said: “I will say this again with my hand on my heart — I support the ROC and oppose ‘one country, two systems.’”
Before the session, DPP city councilors tried to block Han’s scheduled report by staging a protest on the floor of the council chamber.
Clad in matching black T-shirts with the slogan: “Say no to one country, two systems,” about 20 DPP city councilors chanted: “Improve the economy in realistic ways,” before eventually sitting on the floor and allowing Han to begin his report.
Later yesterday, Han defended his policy of promoting cross-strait economic cooperation after criticism by Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通), saying that Chen’s comments were “mean.”
Han was referring to remarks that Chen made on a radio show earlier yesterday, in which Chen reportedly said that Han cares “only about feeding the stomach” and that when people abandon spiritual values for food, they are no different from “pigs, dogs and beasts.”
The real beasts are politicians who do not care about people’s lives and only want to use power to satisfy their greed, Han said.
“Over the past three years, the DPP has failed to give people a good life,” he said.
“You said those who care only about their stomach are beasts, so why don’t you look at the party you are working for?” Han added.
He questioned Chen’s reasons for saying “something so mean” when the Kaohsiung City Government has been working so hard to promote the local economy, saying that Chen probably did that to secure his place in the government.
“Has all the knowledge he learned been eaten by dogs?” Han asked.
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