KMT endorses candidate to lead Taiwan
Print Edition
TAIWAN’S ruling Kuomintang yesterday officially endorsed Hung Hsiu-chu as its candidate in the Taiwan leadership election due to be held in January.
Known as “xiao-la-jiao” or “little hot pepper” for her straight-talking style, Hung is one of two main female candidates in elections that will likely produce the island’s first woman leader.
Party members gave her a standing ovation to signal their endorsement after Chairman Eric Chu proposed Hung at a KMT congress in Taipei.
The KMT candidate is traditionally endorsed by members’ applause, rather than a vote.
“As long as we stand together, we can win the election,” said the 67-year-old Hung.
Hung said that if she is elected, she will consolidate, deepen and promote peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait on the basis of the 1992 consensus and enable all people in Taiwan to enjoy the dividends brought by peaceful development.
“We will bear people’s opinions in mind and give priority to Taiwan’s interests, and continue fighting for the peaceful development of both sides,” she said.
Hung will take on Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party.
Other candidates are also set to enter the race, but the two women are currently the major contenders.
Hung, a former teacher and currently deputy head of the island’s legislature and the only contender for the KMT’s primary Taiwan leadership bid, secured the party’s 30 percent support threshold in public polls held in June with an average rating of 46.2 percent.
Taiwan split from China’s mainland in 1949 after losing a civil war to the Communists.
The KMT espouses a “one China, different interpretation” model, known as the “1992 consensus.”
Elected in 2008, Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou set aside the political dispute to start dialogue with the mainland and sign economic agreements.
He agreed with the mainland to negotiate on the basis that both sides belong to one China, though with different interpretations.
Ma reiterated the importance of the consensus at yesterday’s congress in the island’s capital.
“We must do everything we can to safeguard the 1992 consensus, which has become the most critical source of stability over the past seven years,” he said.
KMT Chairman Chu urged unity at the congress.
“This moment is for the KMT to stand together and start again,” he said. “The KMT is in a difficult situation but it is not hopeless.”
Tsai, the DPP contender, is a 58-year-old lawyer by training and was once Taiwan’s top policy-maker on mainland affairs.
She lost the 2012 leadership race to Ma by 6 percentage points.
Voters in Taiwan have never elected a woman as leader before nor had a choice between two female candidates backed by the major parties.
Women manage 10 government departments and some of Taiwan’s top companies.
One third of Taiwanese legislators are female.
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