Han Kuo-yu TAIPEI, July 15 (AFP): A populist mayor who favours closer ties with Beijing was announced as the presidential candidate for Taiwan's opposition on Monday as it looks to unseat President Tsai Ing-wen in upcoming elections.
Han Kuo-yu won the primary for the opposition Kuomintang party, comfortably seeing off a challenge from Taiwan's richest man, billionaire Foxconn founder Terry Gou.
His victory sets up an unpredictable clash as Taiwan goes to the polls in January in a contest that will be dominated by relations with China.
Han, 62, has enjoyed a stunning rise in the last two years, journeying from relative obscurity to his party's presidential candidate in a phenomenon that has been dubbed the "Han tide".
Some have likened him to US President Donald Trump and other populist leaders who hail from outside establishment circles and command a fervent voter base buoyed by lofty promises of resurrecting their fortunes.
Han won 45 per cent of votes cast in the KMT's primary - which polls members of the public by telephone - compared with Gou's 28 per cent, a setback for a man who made his fortune assembling iPhones and other key electronic devices in Chinese mainland factories.
Han was a relative unknown until he seized the Kaohsiung mayoralty in local elections last year in a shock win in the southern city that has long been a heartland for Tsai's ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
He has been able to muster huge, enthusiastic crowds during campaigning, where he has vowed to restore warm ties with Beijing and kickstart the economy.
"Taiwanese people have been living difficult lives in the past three years," he told reporters after the result was announced as he urged his party to unite.
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