Demonstrators march in Kaohsiung to express support for the ouster of their city’s mayor in an unprecedented vote

SNA (Kaohsiung) — Campaigners for the removal of Kaohsiung’s mayor in an unprecedented vote on Saturday have linked their fight to get rid of the populist, China-friendly Han Kuo-yu with Hong Kong protesters’ fight for democracy.

Two civic groups and the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, which advocates formal independence for the island, have led the months-long campaign to kick Han Kuo-yu out of office. If Saturday’s vote goes their way, Han will be the first ever municipal leader voted out of office in Taiwan.

They oppose his friendly stance toward China, and complain that he effectively abandoned Kaohsiung when he chose to run for president six months after winning the mayoral election in late 2018. He lost the presidency to Tsai Ing-wen in January.

Aaron Yin, founder of WeCare Kaohsiung, one of the groups leading the recall campaign, told a crowd of an estimated two thousand people on Thursday evening that China and Han Kuo-yu were both a threat to democracy. While Hong Kong citizens were fighting against tear gas and weapons in their struggle for democracy, Han had overseen “the tearing down of billboards” supporting the recall and “appealed to Han fans to scrutinize who votes in a bid to intimidate Kaohsiung residents,” Yin said.

“At the moment the whole world is pursuing China for its responsibility for the Wuhan virus,” Yin told the crowd in a park in the Sizihwan harbor area. “But Han Kuo-yu is still saying Kaohsiung should study China’s warm service,” he said, referencing a comment last week by Han that Kaohsiung should be as welcoming to mainlanders so they will invest as mainlanders are to Taiwanese who do business in the mainland.

While Han wants to encourage more trade between Kaohsiung and mainland China, he has said he doesn’t support Taiwan being ruled by China under Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” model as Chinese President Xi Jinping has proposed.

Just eighteen months ago, Han overwhelmingly won election with his promise to make Kaohsiung rich, unexpectedly becoming the city’s first Nationalist Party mayor for twenty years.

A controversial candidate, he energized his “Han fan” base with his outspoken style and headline-grabbing pledges to build up a “love ferris wheel” with pods resembling motel rooms and to bring casino gambling and a Disneyland theme park to Kaohsiung. He made disparaging comments about women and migrant workers from Southeast Asia.

Nevertheless, his slogan that under him “Kaohsiung would become richer” resonated with residents of a city that has stagnated as its once world-famous port and big-earning heavy industry sector have fallen behind Chinese competitors. His perceived abandonment of Kaohsiung and a three-month leave of absence to run for president lost him support among ordinary residents.

Han, whose term is due to end in December 2022, has defended his record as mayor by saying his ferris wheel plan is under development and a planned science park for Kaohsiung could create 11,000 new jobs. He accepted Disneyland wouldn’t be coming after finding out that the population of Kaohsiung and its surrounding areas wasn’t enough to make it worth their while.

On Saturday, 2.3 million people are eligible to vote on whether they want to recall Han. At least 25%–or around 575,000 people–must vote in favor of ousting him, with a simple majority of the voters, for the recall to be successful.

Hundreds of marchers of all ages took part in a rally organized by WeCare Kaohsiung on Thursday night shouting out “On June 6, come out and vote!” and “Take back Kaohsiung!”

The demonstrators set off from National Sun Yat-sen University and people on the sides of streets and stopped on motorbikes waved and clapped as they passed.

In the park next to Sizhiwan metro station, the organizers raised a hundred sky lanterns to mark the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, which is still a taboo subject in mainland China, and paid tribute to Hong Kong protesters’ fight for democracy.

Lee Yi-chieh of the Citizens Moving Action group suggested a successful recall vote would be a win for democracy and give hope to a future in which the whole world can “bravely discuss June 4th.”

Chang Po-yang of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party said that Han and the Chinese Communist Party were both fearful of losing their power. “Han Kuo-yu is fearful, so he oppresses Kaohsiung; and the Chinese Communist Party, for fear that it will lose its grip on power, oppresses the people of Hong Kong. Kaohsiung people will stand up and resist this oppression,” Chang said.

In the crowd was Kaohsiung resident Y. M. Chen, 39. The app manager said he had chosen to attend the recall event Thursday to mark the Tiananmen anniversary. “Even though 31 years have passed, the people in China now can’t understand what happened in that time. If we cannot face facts, we cannot understand what we did wrong or right, just to want to cover everything up is not helpful for progress,” he said.

“There’s a big difference between China and Taiwan. We don’t need to use force or arms to fight for something; we just use our democratic system,” he added.

Leaders of a campaign to recall Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu launch one of a hundred sky lanterns on Thursday to mark the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown

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