Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (
Hu has been widely considered to be one of the three future stars of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) along with Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
The three were considered to emerge in the next few years as the new leaders of the KMT, but the picture did not look so rosy after the KMT and allied People First Party (PFP), the blue camp, lost Saturday's presidential election.
PHOTO: LIAO YAO-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Joseph Chen (陳永豐), director of the information office of Taichung City Government, said in a telephone interview with the Taipei Times that the political environment after the presidential elections does not look so good for the three future stars of the KMT.
Chen, who emphasized that he was speaking in his private capacity, said the three all happen to be mainlanders, a background that might not count in their favor in the future.
"The local awareness that grew in recent years will continue to exert influence on the political environment. Hu, Ma and Chu might find themselves to be out of place in their attempted climb toward the top positions in the party," Chen said.
"But Saturday's presidential election indicated a way out for Hu. Hu helped the blue team win over the green team in Taichung, though the margin was not as great as initially expected," he said.
"But the results of the election show that the blue team still enjoys solid support in Taichung and that Hu stands a very good chance of winning his second term in office next year. Opinion polls also show that Hu's support rate in Taichung has been nearly 80 percent," Chen said.
Hu demonstrated his ability to make people listen to him early yesterday as a group of about 500 blue-camp supporters launched a protest in front of the Taichung district court prosecutors' office against what they said was suspected ballot tampering. He successfully calmed the protesters down with persuasive language.
As Hu's close aide, Chen said although outsiders have been speculating that Hu would become one of the future leaders of the KMT, Hu had no such plans.
"Hu has stated before that Taichung will be the last stop in his political career," Chen said.
Before becoming mayor of Taichung three years ago, Hu had quite an impressive resume, having been the Government Information Office director, National Assembly member and minister of foreign affairs.
Taichung does seem to be a last stop for Hu after the KMT's loss in the presidential election on Saturday. Hu's health could also curtail his political career. Hu suffered a mild stroke while on a US trip two years ago.
Similar to Hu, Taoyuan County Commissioner Chu also faces a standstill in his otherwise promising political career in the next few years.
The KMT is expected to be broken up into two different camps after the presidential election -- one that follows the localization trend and one that sticks to the old ideology which features reunification with China. This could influence the three men's political futures.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by