After retiring from public life three years ago, the KMT's former Cabinet secretary-general Hsieh Shen-shan (
"I love this land [Hualien] and thus am willing to shoulder the responsibility and run in the campaign," said Hsieh, a Hualien County native, of his decision to return to the political arena after years of relaxing at home.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
The by-election will be held next month to fill the post left vacant by the KMT's Chang Fu-hsing (
As the approved nominee of the KMT-PFP alliance, Hsieh will face two other high-profile opponents: the DPP's You Ying-lung (游盈隆) and former KMT Hualien County commissioner Wu Kuo-tung (吳國棟), who enjoys popular support from local factions and is expected to be expelled by the KMT for running his own campaign.
The Green Party's Chi Shu-ying (
Expressing his confidence that he will emerge victorious in the county, a traditionally pan-blue stronghold, Hsieh, noting Wu's candidacy, admitted that the by-election would be an intense fight.
The situation is deja-vu for Hsieh.
In his 1997 bid for the Taipei County commissioner seat, Hsieh, then a KMT nominee, also faced a renegade member of his own party. Then-legislator Lin Jih-jia (
Road to retirement
Hsieh lost that race in part because Lin's candidacy drew votes away from him. But the main reason he lost -- according to KMT's post-election evaluation -- was the one momentous impromptu move made by the late DPP legislator Lu Hsiu-yi (
Lu, then dying of cancer, knelt down at a campaign rally in Taipei County the night before voting day and made an emotional appeal in support of Su. Su won.
Hsieh's withdrawal from the political scene after losing that election turned out to be merely a sabbatical. It was not long before he was tapped by then-premier Vincent Siew (
Hsieh, 64, began his political career as a labor representative in the Legislative Yuan in 1973. He was a seven-term legislator, serving from 1973 to 1994.
During his decade-long career in public service, Hseih has also served as member to the standing committees of both the Taiwan Railway Workers Union and Chinese Federation of Railway Worker Unions.
Hsieh was president of the Chinese Federation of Labor from 1988 to 1994, during which he also served as a member to the KMT's Central Standing Committee.
Hsieh enjoyed close ties with the nation's labor unions and was appointed as chairman of the Council of Labor Affairs in 1994, where he served until 1997, when he ran in the Taipei County commissioner race.
Hsieh gave up his post of Cabinet secretary-general in March 2000 when Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) won the presidency.
Given Hsieh's comprehensive experience in public service, the popular support he commands from the grassroots and his good-natured personality, the Chinese-language media has reported that the pan-green camp had originally eyed Hsieh for its candidate. But he turned the offer down, stressing his loyalty to the KMT and claiming that under no circumstances would he run on behalf of another party.
Sense of duty
Although he had made the decision to retire, Hsieh said that he felt duty-bound to run in the by-election in view of the impressive encouragement his supporters had given him.
There is a concern within the pan-blue camp that Hualien County needs to be clinched by the KMT-PFP alliance before the presidential election next March and Hsieh is just the man for the job.
In the event that Hsieh wins the by-election, he would serve only the remainder of Chang's term, said KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (
"Hsieh and Wu's simultaneous candidacies in the by-election is tantamount to two heavyweight trains running toward each other," said KMT Hualien County Councilor Chung Yi-wen (鍾逸文), who failed to secure the KMT nomination.
"Hualien's Hakka and Hokkien groups would be split as a result of the pan-blue camp's unsuccessful integration," Chung added.
Wu is Hakka and Hsieh is ethnic Taiwanese.
Hsieh brushed aside concern that the by-election would ignite a confrontation between the two groups.
"It's true that Hualien has four major ethnic groups: Hakka, Hokkien [Taiwanese], Aborigines and mainlanders, but with years of merging and integration, I believe the dividing line is becoming fainter," Hsieh said.
Wang Ting-shen (
While acknowledging Hsieh is a strong candidate, DPP Deputy Secretary General Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) said that the pan-blue camp nonetheless needed to tackle the question of integration.
Fully aware of the split in his own camp, Hsieh said, "I truly hope that the pan-blue camp can unite to win the by-election."
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