Student tells Han his presidential bid is ‘ridiculous’

By Hung Ting-hung and Ann Maxon / Staff reporters





A ninth-grade student yesterday told off Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), saying he was “ridiculous” for launching a presidential bid when he had just been elected mayor.

“Your presidential bid is outright ridiculous. Do not allow your sentimentality to overpower your rationality. Wake up,” the male student told Han after accepting a model student award from the mayor.

Without responding, Han simply brushed the teenager aside and greeted other students who had lined up to receive awards.

A junior-high school student poses with Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu at an award ceremony before criticizing Han’s presidential election bid yesterday. Photo copied by Hung Ting-hung, Taipei Times

The student said his remarks were spontaneous and that he wanted to tell Han that he had failed to honor his promises during his election campaign last year.

However, asked later by the Taipei Times about the student’s question, Han said that he was impressed that such a young student was not afraid to voice his opinion.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) yesterday rejected a rumor that he is trying to form an alliance against Han with two other Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential hopefuls.

Local media reported that Gou has been seeking support from KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) to counter the Kaohsiung mayor, who has been topping polls for months.

Asked to confirm the reports during a visit to the Sun Yun-suan Science, Technology and Humanities Museum in Taipei, Gou said: “There is no such thing.”

To ensure that the KMT wins next year’s presidential election, party members should collaborate with each other and form an alliance against President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is seeking re-election, he said.

While at the museum, Gou asked how many hours former premier Sun Yun-suan (孫運璿) worked per day.

Upon learning that Sun worked 16 hours a day, Gou said that spending 16 hours at work is normal for people who want to achieve things.

“Many young people do not want to vote for me because I recently said I work 16 hours a day. They say I work too long,” he said.

In response to Tsai’s remark on Tuesday that he seems to have plenty of money to invest in advertisement and other forms of media exposure, Gou said he does have money, but Tsai has more power than him.

“The money I earned is mine after I paid my taxes,” he said, adding that he wonders whether Tsai has used government resources, instead of her own money, to support her re-election bid.

Even if he lives to 120, he would use up less than one-thousandth of his combined assets, so the rest would be donated to charity, Gou said, adding: “I will not accept donations and favors.”

Meanwhile, Wang told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Hsinchu County that KMT members must work together to win the presidential election.

Asked to comment on the rumor about a KMT alliance against Han, Wang said: “Why would there be such a weird organization?”

Asked about the rumored alliance at an event in New Taipei City, Chu said jokingly that if there were an alliance against Han, there should also be a “Tai-phoon response center” — a wordplay on Gou’s Chinese name “Tai-ming.”

“However, I prefer sunny days,” he quickly added.

This story has been updated since it was first published.