Han Kuo-yu Still the Best Choice for KMT Standard Bearer in 2020 Presidential Election

  Han Kuo-yu Still the Best Choice for KMT Standard Bearer in 2020 Presidential Election

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

March 18, 2019

 Translation of an Excerpt

In order to stump for KMT candidates in the legislative by-elections, Kaohsiung City Mayor Han Kuo-yu dashed south to north; in the end the KMT failed to conquer the two dyed-in-the-wool Green districts. However, the KMT did not really lose, and Han Kuo-yu exhibited the super-popularity and an exclusiveness that transcended Blue and Green no one inside the KMT could match. After Han Kuo-yu was elected Kaohsiung City Mayor, he put campaign planks in action "understanding the sufferings of the populace and the ideals of grassroots economics," which touched the sore spot of the public. Thus, supporting Han has become an all-people movement. Behind it was of course, the despair resulting from the resentment of politicians, Blue and Green.

For a long time, facing the various difficulties of Taiwan, the DPP knew only how to blame the Mainland, and the KMT only knew how to rely on the Mainland, forgetting entirely that only through redoubling our efforts and self-reliance could we remain unperturbed in adversities. For several decades, the Blue and Green only knew spinning in place surrounding the non-issue of reunification/independence, while government finance and economics, agriculture, medical care, environmental protection to energy and other public policies have repeatedly been hijacked or twisted by interest groups.

Too many entangled problems are awaiting the next president to turn the tide. 2020 will be a crucial moment for Taiwan; the new government must, in the shortest possible time, restart cross-Strait consultations, smoothing out the tensions created by PLA planes circling Taiwan. Only by doing so can we create favorable conditions for foreign investment and the home-coming of Taiwan businesses on the Mainland. The new government must stop Taiwan’s bleeding of an ever-increasing isolated international situation and start re-nurturing, returning to the functional organizations of the United Nations, especially we must accede to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), not allowing Taiwan to become an abandoned chess piece. More importantly, the new government must shake off the fake political mingle, the bad habit of seeking official positions and personal benefits, that permeated both the Blue and Green parties for a long period of time, just as Han Kuo-yu said, "the parties and political figures that muddle through must step down."

Right now, Han Kuo-yu fans have determined that only Han Kuo-yu could change the inferior culture of the Blue and Green. KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih has begun to respond positively to Han fans’ enthusiasm, believing that if Han Kuo-yu could be elected president, then let the construction of Kaohsiung and the entire country be combined together, "Kaohsiung will not feel sorry." Conversely, under the blocking of the DPP government, how could Han Kuo-yu fulfill his ambitions for Kaohsiung City? Kaohsiung citizenry will understand the logic that "if Taiwan fares well, then Kaohsiung will fare well." The KMT has no reason not to nominate the strongest warrior; the legislative by-elections all the more underscored the KMT’s predicament that Han Kuo-yu was the best of the party. The other elder stars who wish to seek the KMT’s nomination for the presidential election all lack the strength to expand the voter base, as well as the strength of a sudden explosion, to say nothing of Han Kuo-yu’s amiability. After the trailings in the legislative by-elections, Han Kuo-yu fans conversely became more solidified to support Han to run for president.

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