Taiwanese mayor Han Kuo-yu heads to US as he seeks to boost profile
- Beijing-friendly politician has drawn attention in the United States after his landslide win in Kaohsiung’s November election
- His trip comes ahead of Taiwan’s 2020 presidential race, though he has yet to say whether he will run for the top job
Taiwan’s popular mayor Han Kuo-yu will begin a nine-day visit to the United States on Tuesday as he seeks to raise his profile ahead of the island’s presidential elections next year.
Mainland-friendly Han has drawn attention after his landslide win in the November mayoral race in Kaohsiung, a city long regarded as a pro-independence stronghold.
Five Harvard University professors visited the southern city in January, inviting Han to speak in the US on the impact of the November 19 local elections on democratic politics on the self-ruled island, according to the Kaohsiung city government.
Soon after, Brent Christensen, the de facto US ambassador to Taiwan, visited Han to discuss his priorities for the next four years, it said.
Han, 61, from the opposition Kuomintang, became a household name in Taiwan after he easily defeated his opponent from the independence-leaning Democractic Progressive Party. His popularity even gave other KMT candidates a boost at the polls, resulting in the party taking 15 of the 22 local government seats for the first time in many years.
