2020 Elections: Han vows to quit if allegation is true

MOVING NORTH? The KMT presidential candidate said that he would file defamation suits against those responsible for ‘untrue news reports’ that his family is emigrating

By Lin Liang-sheng, Yang Chun-hui and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writer





Following a local media report that he has applied for Canadian citizenship, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) said that if he is elected and it is found that he holds dual citizenship, he would quit the presidency.

Han, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate in Saturday’s presidential election, denied the report published yesterday by Next Media Group alleging that he and his family applied to emigrate to Canada before his election as mayor.

His youngest daughter, Han Ching (韓青), is enrolled in a Canadian university and the family owns property in Vancouver registered under his eldest daughter, Han Ping (韓冰), the report said.

Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate in Saturday’s presidential election, speaks to reporters in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times

Han Kuo-yu said that he has contacted a lawyer and would file lawsuits against those responsible for “untrue news reports” about his family emigrating.

“If I become president, the weekly publication would publish 200 more editions over the course of my first term. If at any time it finds evidence that I have dual citizenship, I promise compatriots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu that I will resign,” he said.

However, if there is any evidence of defamation against him, or evidence of contraventions of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法), he said that he would sue those responsible.

Asked about an earlier report alleging that he had vacationed in Macau with a woman surnamed Wang (王) from New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊), the mayor refused to answer the question.

He also discussed the state of relations between the US and Iran, and their potential effects on Taiwan.

The Middle East has been a “powder keg” for decades, and if the US and Iran go to war, it could result in a surge in oil prices, and consequently an increase in the general prices of goods, he said.

The government must move quickly to stabilize commodity prices and ensure a steady supply of imported oil, he said, adding that securing a variety of sources would be important.

A war in the Middle East could also affect regional security in East Asia, especially in the Taiwan Strait, he said.

National defense officials must ensure that there is no risk of instability to the cross-strait relationship, and the government must act quickly to ensure that response measures are in place, he added.

Separately yesterday, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told a news conference that as a presidential candidate, Han Kuo-yu should clearly address the allegation that he planned to emigrate to Canada.

Tsai was in Changhua County stumping for Democratic Progressive Party legislative candidate Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) on the third day of a nationwide campaign tour.