Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, last night thanked supporters for their efforts as he conceded defeat in the election.
“All I can say is that the hard work I put in was not enough, and I have let you all down,” Han told a rally outside the KMT’s Kaohsiung chapter in the city’s Sanmin District (三民).
He thanked supporters for their love and efforts, saying that it had been an honor to have former premier Simon Chang (張善政) as his running mate.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
“The people of the Republic of China have made their choice and I absolutely respect the election result,” Han said.
Earlier in the evening, he congratulated President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on her re-election, he said.
Hopefully, Tsai will create a better life for the people and the nation will again show its solidarity, he added.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
“Starting on Monday, I will return to work at the Kaohsiung City Government,” Han said, adding that there is much to be done before the Lunar New Year holiday.
Following Han’s speech, KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) announced at KMT headquarters in Taipei that he and vice chairmen Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) and Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), as well as all executive-level members involved in the election, would tender their resignations to the KMT Central Standing Committee to take responsibility for the party’s defeat in the presidential and legislative elections.
The committee is to make a decision about their resignations at its meeting on Wednesday, Wu said.
Photo: CNA
“The KMT did not do well in the elections and must calmly review its performance,” Wu said.
Outside the KMT’s Kaohsiung chapter, the party had set up a large screen on Jianguo Road for about 1,000 supporters who had gathered to watch the vote count.
The supporters initially appeared hopeful, with many chanting dong suan (凍蒜), a Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) expression meaning “get elected,” despite Han failing to hold a small early lead over Tsai.
However, as the gap between Han and Tsai widened, many fell silent and became visibly anxious.
By 6:30pm, about two-and-a-half hours after the ballot counting began, Han trailed Tsai by more than 1.2 million votes and several supporters broke into tears.
The loss marks the fourth time the KMT is to be an opposition party since the DPP won its first presidential election in 2000.
Before the DPP’s Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) won the 2000 presidential election, the KMT had ruled the nation for nearly six decades.
The loss was another blow to the KMT, which was desperate to return to power following a disastrous electoral defeat in 2016, when Tsai won the presidential election by the second-largest margin in the nation’s history and the DPP secured an absolute majority in the Legislative Yuan.
Additional reporting by Fang Chih-hsien
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary