Taiwan's future tied to her : Hung passes key hurdle to KMT candidacy

[kawaraj]

Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday emerged as the only candidate qualified to run in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential primary after obtaining the necessary number of signatures from KMT members.

A screening committee announced that Hung had obtained 35,210 valid endorsements from registered members, surpassing the 15,000 threshold.

Former Department of Health minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良), the only other person to file registration papers, obtained only 5,234 valid signatures, failing to meet the requirement, the committee said.

Hung had submitted more than 60,000 signatures and Yaung more than 30,000, but many of them were disqualified for various reasons, the committee said.

According to the KMT’s primary regulations, Hung must next face a public opinion poll, and would be required to garner the support of at least 30 percent of respondents.

The KMT has yet to decide how to conduct the poll, but one of the likely options is to ask respondents to choose between Hung and Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

The KMT is the underdog heading into the January elections, hurt by its disastrous showing in the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 29 last year and the dismal approval ratings for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, which have dropped to about 20 percent.

Hung passes key hurdle to KMT candidacy - Taipei Times

Just feel this is a black horse. She is certainly more close to the public sentiment than DDP's rich chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen. Share you thoughst as we rarely touch the topics of Taiwan.

 

[Huan]

First time I heard about her. What is she known for?

 

[kawaraj]

First time I heard about her. What is she known for?

She is the deputy speaker of Twaiwan's congress and a well-known politicion in Twaiwan. I just google her, she's from a poor family in surburb Taipei and brought up by her mother when her father was jail for decades. She even shared a bed with her sister in her 20s. She grow her political life from school instructor to the top cadre of KMT. Wow, amazing mobility of Twaiwan democracy.

 

[kawaraj]

Hung Hsiu-chu, the deputy speaker of Taiwan's Legislature and a candidate for the ruling Kuomintang's presidential nomination, stressed Wednesday her will to lead the victory....

Hung Hsiu-chu vows to lead united KMT to victory｜WantChinaTimes.com

 

[kawaraj]

Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang (KMT) has all but selected its candidate for the 2016 presidential elections. Hung Hsiu-chu, the deputy legislative speaker, is the sole contender for the KMT nomination, and was just formally granted the go-ahead by the party’s Central Standing Committee. That sets up a showdown between Hung and Democratic Progressive Party chair Tsai Ing-wen for the presidency – and guarantees Taiwan will have its first-ever female president.
Hung passed of the last hurdles for the nomination on Wednesday, when the Standing Committee formally affirmed her bid. Prior to that, Hung had to prove she had a higher than 30 percent public approval rating, a requirement for the KMT’s candidate. Hung passed that bar easily, gaining 46 percent approval. With those requirements met, Hung will “for sure be appointed” the KMT candidate during the party congress on July 19, KMT spokesman Yang Wei-chung

Tsai wants to institutionalize cross-strait relations and make the process more transparent, which in practice will mean slowing down the pace of new agreements. Hung, meanwhile, has previously said that she will make seeking a peace accord with the mainland one of her top priorities – a promise that is sure to spark heated debates during the campaign. Even current President Ma Ying-jeou, seen as very much in favor of expanding cross-strait ties, has tread lightly on the issue of a formal peace accord, shelving a previous promise to pursue such an agreement in the face of opposition.
Hung has also vocally opposed the idea of Taiwanese independence, saying, “This separatist ideology is a threat to Taiwan’s national security.” She accused the DPP of “destroying the peaceful foundation for cross-strait relations,” language typical of her outspoken style (she’s nicknamed “Little Hot Pepper” for that very reason).
Tsai, meanwhile, has carefully avoided being pinned down on concrete issues in cross-strait relations, such as whether she would accept the 1992 Consensus (in which KMT and Chinese Communist Party leaders agreed that Taiwan is part of “one China,” while maintaining different interpretations of what “one China” refers to). The KMT is hoping that Hung’s direct style will force Tsai to pin down her stance on cross-strait issues, potentially alienating either her base or observers already predisposed to worry about cross-strait relations under a DPP administration. However, Hung’s directness could backfire if Taiwanese are in fact, as Tsai has repeatedly said, satisfied with the “status quo” and not eager for a security agreement with China.
Regardless of who wins, Hung’s nomination means the gender of either candidate will not be the deciding factor. During her visit to Washington, D.C. in early June, Tsai was asked at a public panel for her views on what it means to be a woman running for president in Taiwan. Tsai noted that “there are some people in Taiwan that are still rather traditional and they have some hesitation in considering a woman president,” but overall she was optimistic. “I think in general terms, there is a preference for women candidates these days,” Tsai said. “…[A]mong the younger generation, I think they are generally excited about the idea of having a woman leader. They think it is rather trendy.”
Tsai ended by saying that Taiwan’s people face a “serious test” in the elections: “whether we are advanced and civilized enough to accept a woman leader.” With Hung only the formal party vote away from the nomination, it seems Taiwan’s people will have a “woman leader” regardless. “I hope this battle between two women will bring forth a whole new understanding and set an example of true democracy,” Hung said.

Taiwan Will Have a Female President in 2016 | The Diplomat

 

[kawaraj]

Hung Hsiu-chu: KMT's 'Little Chilli' spices up race, East Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

 

[TaiShang]

Old news.

 

[kawaraj]

Old news.

so you favor Tsai in the race?

she is a heroine for grassroots Taiwanese people, not llike Tsai, the hypocrite of high end elite，she will be a disaster for Taiwan.

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu continued yesterday to question the role of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) in financing student protests surrounding the controversial high school curriculum guideline changes made by the government's education ministry. She equated the DPP's support of social movements by providing material resources as a "black box operation" and an unaccountable form of political involvement.
Hung stated in a television interview that she "did not understand" what DPP chairwoman and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen meant when she explained that the party had provided material support to social movements in which they shared common objectives. Hung added that if it were not for the exposure of the issue of what organizations were backing the students, one would not know how students were being supported to carry out their protests.

Hung went further, promising that should she become president next year, she would implement changes to the high school history curriculum that would remain in accordance to the country's constitution. She argued that if the DPP and students shared the same viewpoint, they should state their positions outright, such as taking a "Taiwanese independence stance on history" and "not supporting an R.O.C. historical perspective."

"Providing assistance is in no way the same as manipulating the students," Tsai said yesterday in response to KMT allegations of political interference. The ruling party has hardened its line toward the DPP in recent days, using digital media to suggest that Tsai's party was manipulating students to break the law. On Tuesday, Hung implied that Tsai's actions were similar to tactics used by Mao Tse-tung during China's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s.

Over 30 people including under-aged youth were involved in storming the Ministry of Education (MOE) last week, and were later detained by police. DPP governed city and county leaders are calling for charges to be dropped against the legal-aged students involved, while demanding the MOE retract the curriculum guidelines.

In response to Tsai's statement concerning the Diaoyutai islands' sovereignty, that they "belong to Taiwan," Hung said that the DPP leader should have directed her words toward former president Lee Teng-hui. Lee, while visiting Japan last week, stated to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the islands belonged to Japan.

 

[Zsari]

Hung's chance are slim. On the other hand, there is little Tsai could do to change the outlook for the island.