Hou Looking to Han to Reduce Negative Sentiment？Party Member：Key Lies with Gou
United Daily News, June 7, 2023
Recently the #MeToo Movement has swept through Taiwan’s political arena. Thanks to it, the negative online sentiment towards Chairman and presidential candidate William Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has surged rapidly. Yet the negative sentiment surrounding the Kuomintang’s (KMT) presidential candidate, Mayor Hou Yu-ih of New Taipei, remains “stable.” The so-called “rise in Lai, decline in Hou” phenomenon has not occurred. Meanwhile, the positive sentiment for Chairman Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party is on the rise.
Party insiders say that there has been a steady output of Hou’s negative materials generated from the “anti-Hou” factions. This is the main reason that Hou’s negative volume has not declined from Lai’s negative perception. Under such circumstances, Hou’s negative online image is hard to ease.
Hou’s negative sentiment is mostly brought about by some “fans” of Han Kuo-yu, the KMT’s presidential candidate in 2020, live streamers, and internet celebrities. As a result, a lot of people think Han is the key to silencing such sentiment. Party insiders, however, say that the structure of the “Han fans” has changed, and the real solution lies with Foxconn founder Terry Gou, so Hou needs to make extra efforts in this regard.
Yesterday, Hou was “ambushed” by some “Han fans” and internet celebrities. They asked him if he would apologize for the controversial “Peaceful Time” statement released before the 2021 Taiwan referendum. Today, the media questioned him on the same matter. In reply, Hou emphasized that to achieve “Peaceful Time,” people must volunteer to bear the burden to achieve national stability and allow the Taiwanese people to live and work in prosperity. He is willing to shoulder the responsibility to ensure peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait region, and most importantly, sustainable prosperity for the country.
Party insiders say that many KMT supporters are sick of Hou because of his “Peaceful Time” referendum statement, and it has nothing to do with “Hou’s not supporting Han for president in 2020. Nevertheless, the current “anti-Hou” sentiment among the “Han fans” might not necessarily be about seeking justice for Han but is intended for other purposes.
It is widely known that the “Han fans” have a strong sense of cohesion and many of their prominent live streamers frequently used to rank high on the YouTuber donation leaderboard, with their annual income exceeding one million New Taiwan dollars. After CtiTV News transitioned from traditional broadcasting to streaming online, the Han fans live streamers’ income sharply decreased. However, when the KMT decided to select its presidential candidate through “conscription” for the 2024 election, “anti-Eric Chu, pro-Han Kuo-Yu and Terry Gou for president” content became a hack for more online views before the presidential candidate was determined. After Hou was formally “conscripted,” the hack for more streams changed to putting out “anti-Hou and pro-Gou” content. Apart from the fact that this may attract donors, if it eventually leads to the “replacement of Hou” or Gou changes his mind and runs for president independently, it could guarantee high internet traffic for at least one year.
The insiders say that since Han is not a candidate for the 2024 presidential election, the “Han fans” live streamers and internet celebrities are bringing up old issues, such as highlighting that Hou did not support Han in 2020 and questioning Hou’s “Peaceful Time” referendum statement even though it was irrelevant to Han’s loss or recall, to please the “Han fans” as well as the die-hard pro-KMT supporters. But if one carefully reads the related comments, he will find many messages stating “Even if Han publicly calls for support for Hou, I still won’t vote for him.” These comments are not in the minority. The “Han fans” have shifted their support and affection towards Gou, and supporting Gou may indeed be more advantageous.
Therefore, what Hou needs now is to ease this anti-Hou sentiment. While Han voicing support for Hou through social media may influence some “Han fans,” it is believed that the live streamers claiming to be “Han fans” will continue to find reasons to oppose Hou. They will only cease the anti-Hou activities when Hou successfully convinces Gou to join forces and they no longer can gain any interest out of that.
Party officials further mentioned that when former Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng politely declined to serve as Hou’s campaign chairman, it already indicated a clear path: Gou is the answer to all the current challenges faced by Hou.
Professor Chu Chao-Hsiang from the Graduate Institute of Political Science at National Taiwan Normal University stated that regardless of external opinion polls or manipulations of public discourse, the possibility of “replacing Hou” by the KMT’s Central Committee is almost zero. And for the sake of his own reputation, Gou is unlikely to deviate from the KMT camp again, unless Ko Wen-je is willing to form a “Gou-Ko alliance.” Moreover, the likelihood of Gou running as an independent candidate is also relatively low.
Since Gou is likely to “keep his promise” and not leave the KMT camp, why does he still engage in ambiguous gestures with Ko Wen-je and allow the spread of “anti-Hou” rhetoric? Professor Chu stated that Gou believes he was tricked by Chairman Eric Chu and Secretary-General Justin Huang, and now it’s his turn to “trick” the KMT back. The KMT and Hou dare not say anything as long as Gou doesn’t openly leave or break ties, nor will they find reasons to criticize Gou at the moment.
Is it possible that Gou and Hou could appear together at the KMT National Congress in July, playing a crucial role as the final piece of the puzzle for the non-DPP unity? Before that happens, Professor Chu said, Hou must personally visit pro-Han, pro-Gou, and local fractions within the party. He needs to enhance his appeal to economic and swing voters through solid discourse, ensuring that his polling remains stable in the second position with a limited gap from the first, or even overtake all and become the first. If this is achieved, the situation will naturally fall into place for Gou and Hou to appear together.