My Take | Time is right for Kuomintang’s rising star
- Han Kuo-yu is the kind of Taiwanese politician that Hong Kong and Beijing prefers: pragmatic, business-minded and not driven blindly by ideology
Hong Kong is about to get a taste of the Han Kuo-yu frenzy. The Kuomintang’s rising star emerged virtually out of nowhere to win last November’s election to become the mayor of Kaohsiung in Taiwan.
He may yet find his popularity reaching Hong Kong, which he is scheduled to visit to drum up business interest, in a tour that includes Macau, Shenzhen and Xiamen later this month.
The political pendulum seems once again to be swinging in the KMT’s favour. Some are already predicting a Han presidency. If so, rationality and stability will hopefully return to cross-strait relations after being put on hold by independence-minded President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party.
The Hong Kong government said it would welcome his visit, as well as greater cooperation between the two cities. Han is the kind of Taiwanese politician that Hong Kong and Beijing prefers: pragmatic, business-minded and not driven blindly by ideology. He is ready to endorse the “one China” principle under the so-called “1992 consensus”, though what that means is open to interpretations.
Pundits, especially those with an anti-Beijing stance in Hong Kong and Taiwan, have insisted that the crushing defeats dealt to the DPP in November did not amount to an endorsement of “one China” to which the KMT is committed.
