Advertisement

Populist Taiwanese mayor faces recall as public attitudes harden towards Beijing

Han Kuo-yu, a populist Taiwanese mayor, faces a recall vote - Ann Wang/Reuters
Han Kuo-yu, a populist Taiwanese mayor, faces a recall vote - Ann Wang/Reuters

The potential ousting of a high-profile mayor in a recall vote on Saturday has cast a spotlight on Taiwan’s hardening views towards China under increasing threats and intimidation from Beijing during the global pandemic.

Han Kuo-yu, 62, a charismatic but polarising figure in the opposition Kuomintang party, considered by critics to be too close to Beijing, fell out of favour with many of his constituents after deciding to run for president less than a year after his surprise election as mayor of Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s third largest city.

He was defeated by incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen in January, whose record-breaking win reaffirmed the island’s rejection of closer ties with Beijing in favour of a stronger assertion of Taiwanese identity.

In a double whammy for Mr Han, the wheels were already in motion to try to push him out of office in Kaohsiung after the city’s aggrieved residents gathered enough support to force a recall vote.

If their attempt succeeds, Mr Han would be the most senior Taiwanese politician ever to be expelled from office by constituents. A majority of 25% of eligible voters would be needed to do so.

Lev Nachman, a Fulbright research fellow specialising in party politics in Taiwan, said the recall would likely pass if the voter threshold was met. “It’s a very popular idea,” he said.

Supporters of Han Kuo-yu wave Taiwanese flags - Ann Wang/Reuters
Supporters of Han Kuo-yu wave Taiwanese flags - Ann Wang/Reuters

“As mayor his biggest (flaw) was taking months off to run for president, and I would say his repeated blunders in the public spotlight,” he said.

But Mr Han’s “blatantly sympathetic stances towards China” were also an important factor, he added.

In 2018, Mr Han charmed the electorate as the “bald guy” with a common touch who would foster better local trade ties with China.

Critics claimed he could be tempted to sell out Taiwan’s political interests in favour of the economy – a charge he strongly denied, but an accusation that gained more traction as the Taiwanese public nervously watched Beijing’s growing crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests last year. 

In a Telegraph interview in December, Aaron Yin, founder of the WeCare movement behind the recall vote, said the public had backed the campaign because they felt abandoned by Mr Han and because of his “pro-China label.”

China seeks to annex Taiwan, an island of nearly 24 million which functions like any other nation with its own democratically-elected government, military, currency and foreign policy.

President Tsai Ing-wen beat Mr Han in a landslide victory in January  - AFP
President Tsai Ing-wen beat Mr Han in a landslide victory in January - AFP

Mr Han’s resounding defeat at the election prompted the Kuomintang party to rethink its unpopular policy of seeking a closer relationship with China.

Since January, the outbreak of the pandemic, China’s efforts to block Taiwan’s participation at the World Health Organisation, and an increase in sorties by Chinese fighter aircraft and warships intended to intimidate the island, appear to have turned Taiwanese public opinion further against Beijing.

An annual China Impact Factor survey by Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s national academy, showed the number of respondents who said that China's government is not a friend to Taiwan rose from 58% in 2019 to 73% this year.

This was the highest recorded percentage since the survey was first run, said Catherine Chou, an assistant professor of history at Grinnell College, Iowa.

"Support for the Hong Kong protests and disapproval of [China’s] handling of the pandemic both seem to have contributed to hardening of Taiwanese attitudes towards the Chinese government in the past year,” she said.

This week’s 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen square massacre may also play a role in voters’ decisions.

“The organisers of the campaign to recall Han Kuo-yu have also invoked the memory of the Chinese students who died fighting for democracy at Tiananmen, arguing that a successful vote against a politician they see as authoritarian will honor the work of both Chinese and Hong Kong activists,” said Ms Chou.