Advertisement

Taiwan’s KMT cruises to mayoral win on anti-DPP electoral wave

Disenchantment with the ruling party’s policies helps propel Kuomintang candidate across the line in race in tourism-dependent city, analyst says

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
KMT candidate Wei Chia-hsien wins the race for mayor in the small Taiwanese city of Hualien. Photo: SCMP Pictures

A victory by the Kuomintang in a weekend mayoral race is a small but significant win, reflecting electoral dissatisfaction with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s performance, including its cross-strait policy, an analyst says.

Advertisement

KMT candidate Wei Chia-hsien defeated his DPP opponent Chang Mei-hui by a comfortable 17,923 votes to 13,958 in the election for mayor of Hualien on ­Saturday.

Wang Kung-yi, professor of international relations and strategic studies at Tamkang University in Taiwan, said one of the major reasons for Wei’s win was voter unhappiness with the policies of President Tsai Ing-wen, “including those related to cross-strait ­relations”.

Tsai, from the independence-leaning DPP, was inaugurated on May 20.

Wang said Hualien, on the island’s east coast, was dependent on tourism and used to be a popular destination for mainland visitors.

Advertisement
loading
Advertisement