Mayor Hou Visits Singapore to Make Up for Foreign Policy Credits：Presidential Test Not Yet Over
United Daily News, April 22, 2023
New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih met with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during his visit to Singapore, which became a highlight of the trip. Hou emphasized that Wong would be "the next succeeding leader" and expressed satisfaction with the results of their meeting. However, some supporters were disappointed as Hou did not appear in a photo with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore. Furthermore, several major security incidents occurred in New Taipei during Hou’s visit to Singapore. The mayor, who is also a former police chief, can therefore expect to face significant challenges upon his return to Taiwan.
Mayor Hou's itinerary of meeting with Singaporean officials was kept highly confidential, leading many to believe that he would be able to meet with the highest level of leadership in Singapore. Former President Ma Ying-jeou had visited Singapore before he was elected president and had met with Lee Hsien Loong and the late former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, referring to each other as old friends. Like former President Ma, Hou is similarly known as the strongest leading candidate of the Kuomintang (KMT), and naturally, his supporters have high expectations for his visit.
However, Mayor Hou has always maintained a distance from his party; even though Singapore has a good relationship with the KMT, Hou was unable to utilize KMT resources extensively. Hou's visit to Singapore came on the same day Prime Minister Lee spoke in Parliament and stated that the Taiwan Strait crisis is escalating, and the “One China” principle is the most important red line for Beijing. As a potential KMT presidential candidate, Hou's visit to Singapore at this time may have been politically sensitive, and Mr. Lee’s decision to meet with him or not had to be carefully considered.
Prime Minister Lee had just returned from a visit to mainland China. If he were to receive Hou as a head of state, it would not only create a hierarchical disparity, but it would also likely arouse sensitivities across the strait. Moreover, it could give the wrong political signal to the outside world, leading them to misunderstand Singapore's position with regard to U.S.-China relations or Taiwan's various party elections.
But Mayor Hou may also become the next national leader, and for purposes of pragmatic diplomacy, the leadership in Singapore will not completely close their doors to him. Therefore, Singapore still gave Hou the opportunity to meet at the highest possible level of openness, which was with Deputy Prime Minister Wong, who had met with Hou in 2019. Meeting with Singapore's successor team could be important political capital for Hou, who has been criticized for lacking in international discourse in the past.
For Wong, accumulating early interaction and friendships with an important political leader in Taiwan, who could potentially become a future president, may be considered important political capital for his succession in Singapore's leadership. It could lead to a win-win situation for both countries.
However, during Mayor Hou's visit, a series of tragedies occurred in New Taipei, including a fatal fire in Tamsui resulting in four deaths, a major shooting case, and a bridge collapse, giving the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) the opportunity to criticize Hou. Premier Chen Chien-jen even demanded that New Taipei take responsibility for the incidents. Hou will face a tough situation after returning to Taiwan, with the City Council general inquiry session coming up, as well as internal political and diplomatic challenges. It remains to be seen whether Hou’s diplomatic efforts can “allow the Republic of China to rise again." Both internal and external pressures will test Hou's abilities.