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
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS