Han Kuo-Yu

Suicide of Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Used as Political Ammunition by KMT for Recall Campaigns

Brian Hioe
The apparent suicide of Kaohsiung city council speaker Hsu Kun-yuan on the same day as Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu was successfully recalled earlier this month has quickly become used as political ammunition by the KMT against political opponents. A number of recall campaigns against supporters of Han’s recall have been launched by members of the pan-Blue camp... Read More
EnglishJune 2020Politics0 Comments 08 min read

Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu Successfully Recalled in Historic Recall Vote

Brian Hioe
Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu was successfully recalled today in a recall vote. Han was defeated by overwhelming margins, with 939,090 votes in favor of his recall and 25,051 votes against his recall, out of a total of 969,259 individuals that voted. 97.4% of those who voted were in favor of Han being recalled, while only 2.6% of voters were against the recall. 42.14% of Kaohsiung’s voter electorate participated in the recall vote. This is the first successful recall vote of a standing politician after the threshold required to hold a recall vote was lowered after legislature passed in November 2016, as well as the first mayoral recall held in Taiwanese history.... Read More
EnglishJune 2020Politics0 Comments 010 min read

Han Kuo-yu Attempts to Change His Image Ahead of the June Recall Vote

Brian Hioe
Recent efforts by Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu to turn around his image illustrate that the Han administration may be too little, too late. Han is currently facing a recall vote, which is scheduled to take place on June 6th. It is generally thought that this recall vote has a high chance of succeeding, seeing as the number of signatures obtained for the petition needed to hold the recall vote had close to the number of votes needed to recall Han... Read More
EnglishMay 2020Politics0 Comments 05 min read

Ahead of Han Recall Vote, KMT Member Causes Controversy After Comments About NPP Legislator Claire Wang

Brian Hioe
KMT member Harry Lee provoked outrage earlier this week after making comments that NPP legislator Claire Wang had kicked her daughter’s “decapitated head to Kaohsiung”. Lee’s comments were made in the context of Wang’s support for the recall of Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu, claiming that Wang was leveraging on her daughter’s 2016 murder for political capital... Read More
EnglishMay 2020Politics0 Comments 06 min read