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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS