Han Kuo-yu

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Han Kuo-yu

Han Kuo-yu ( Chinese  韓國瑜 , Pinyin Hán Guóyú ; born June 17, 1957 in Zhonghe ( Taipei County , now New Taipei )) is a Taiwanese politician of the Kuomintang and was mayor from December 25, 2018 to June 12, 2020 the government immediate city of Kaohsiung . Han was also his party's candidate in the Taiwanese presidential election on January 11, 2020 .

Academic and early professional career

Han studied first at the Taiwan Military Academy, then English Language and Literature at Soochow University, and earned a master's degree in law from the Institute of East Asian Studies at Chengchi National University . Before entering politics, Han taught at various educational institutions.

Political career

Han's political career began as a MP in his hometown of Zhonghe in the Taipei County Council, of which he was a member from 1990 to 1994. At the end of 1992 he was elected as a member of the Taiwanese parliament (the Legislative Yuan ) and was a member of it until 2002. After that, Han temporarily withdrew from politics and acted as general manager of the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation from 2013 to 2017. In January 2017, Han gave up this post to run for the position of chairman of the Kuomintang, but was defeated by election winner Wu Den-yih .

Han now devoted himself to local politics, was appointed executive director of the Kuomintang in Kaohsiung and as such was elected as the party's candidate in the 2018 Kaohsiung mayoral election. In the city, which has been ruled by the DPP for two decades , Han ran for the election as an outsider, but quickly achieved considerable popularity with great media support, which made him famous across the country and triggered a so-called "Han wave" and was able to vote on Victory for yourself on November 24, 2018 with 53.86% of the vote. He took office as mayor on December 25th of the same year.

During a trip to China in March 2019, Han reaffirmed his recognition of the so-called consensus of 1992 , thereby fulfilling a constant demand from China to Taiwanese politicians from all parties and offices - a demand made by the DPP, among others, but also after opinion polls by the majority of the Taiwanese population is rejected. This earned Han the reputation of a “China-friendly” politician. On the other hand, Han repeatedly stated that he firmly opposed the formula one country, two systems , which applies to Hong Kong and Macau , for Taiwan.

Hans's surprising election victory in Kaohsiung and his associated media presence and popularity made him a favorite within his party in the candidate elections for the Taiwanese presidential election in January 2020. In the intra-party poll from July 8-14, 2019, Han Kuo- yu prevailed over its competitors with 44.8% of the vote and was officially elected as the Kuomintang's presidential candidate on July 15. In the presidential election the following year, Han received 38.61% of the vote and had to admit defeat to incumbent Tsai Ing-wen ( DPP , 57.13%).

Meanwhile, citizens' movements formed in Kaohsiung with the aim of forcing Hans to be removed from office as mayor. The movement's supporters, including the WeCare Kaohsiung group , argued, among other things, that Han cheated on the city's citizens by taking a leave of absence to run for the presidential election a few months after being elected mayor. After the necessary signatures had been collected, the vote on the impeachment took place on June 6, 2020. 42.14% of the electorate took part in the vote, which means that the required turnout of 25% was achieved, and 97.4% of the votes cast voted for the impeachment. It was the first time in Taiwan's history that a politician had been voted out of office in this way. Hans resigned on June 12, 2020.

Web links

Commons : Han Kuo-yu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Han resigns, fueling rumors of candidacy , Taipei Times, January 12, 2017
  2. ↑ Kaohsiung chapter director wins KMT mayoral primary , Taipei Times, May 22, 2018
  3. ↑ 2018 ELECTIONS: NEWSMAKER: 'Han Wave' secures candidate's future , Taipei Times, November 21, 2018
  4. ↑ KMT's Han Kuo-yu wins Kaohsiung mayoral election , Focus Taiwan, November 25, 2018
  5. ^ A majority of Taiwanese people reject the '1992 consensus' , Taiwan News, June 12, 2018
  6. ↑ Senior Chinese officials give Taiwanese politician Han Kuo-yu the red carpet treatment on 'non-political' tour of mainland , South China Morning Post, March 25, 2019
  7. ^ After Taiwan polls, Kaohsiung's new mayor will lead charge on mainland-friendly policy , South China Morning Post of November 28, 2018
  8. ↑ Han repeats stance on 'two systems' , Taipei Times, June 17, 2019
  9. ↑ Han Kuo-yu wins primary, to represent KMT in 2020 race , Focus Taiwan from July 15, 2019
  10. ↑ 2020 Elections: Tsai wins by a landslide , Taipei Times, January 12, 2020
  11. ↑ Explainer: June 6 vote to recall Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu , Focus Taiwan, June 5, 2020
  12. ↑ Kaohsiung voters recall Han Kuo-yu , Taipei Times, June 7, 2020
  13. ↑ Civil servant appointed acting Kaohsiung mayor as Han leaves office , Focus Taiwan, June 12, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Han, Kuo-yu
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 韓國瑜 (Chinese); Han, Guoyu
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Taiwanese politician
DATE OF BIRTH June 17, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Zhonghe , Taipei County , Republic of China (Taiwan)