Han Kuo-yu

The Night of June 6, 2020

At 7:25 PM on June 6, 2020, the Kaohsiung City Election Commission announced the vote count. Votes in favor of recalling Han Kuo-yu: 939,090 — nearly double the recall threshold of 570,000. Votes against: 25,051. The count had not yet finished, but the outcome was no longer in doubt.¹

Han Kuo-yu, 62 years old that year, became the first directly elected mayor in ROC constitutional history to be recalled. His tenure as Kaohsiung mayor lasted 528 days — the shortest of any special municipality mayor on record.²

His political career appeared to be over. In the January 2020 presidential election, he had lost to Tsai Ing-wen by 2.65 million votes — 5.52 million to 8.17 million.³ Five months later, he was recalled. Within six months, he experienced a sequence no politician in Taiwan's democratic history had ever endured at that speed: presidential candidate → defeated → mayor recalled.

But the story did not end.

Four years later, on February 1, 2024, the same Han Kuo-yu stood in the Legislative Yuan chamber and was sworn in as President of the 11th Legislative Yuan. The highest position in the ROC legislature, held by a former mayor whom 930,000 voters had recalled four years earlier.

Between 2020 and 2024, Han Kuo-yu did not contest a single new election and did not win a single new debate. He did only one thing: wait. Wait for the DPP to lose its absolute majority in the 2024 presidential election, wait for the KMT to become the largest party in the Legislative Yuan, wait for Eric Chu to place him at the top of the party list. And then he came back.

Between political death and political resurrection, there was only a party list.

30-second overview: Han Kuo-yu, born in 1957 in Banciao, Taipei, is a second-generation waishengren with ancestral roots in Shangqiu, Henan. He is a graduate of the ROC Military Academy's intensive program, Soochow University's English Department, and National Chengchi University's Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies. He served as a legislator in the 2nd–4th Legislative Yuan and as deputy mayor of Zhonghe, Taipei County. After becoming general manager of the Taipei Agricultural Marketing Corporation in 2016, he spent three years in obscurity. In 2018, he ran as the KMT candidate for Kaohsiung mayor, riding slogans like "Kaohsiung will get rich," "northbound drift," and "goods go out, people come in" to ignite the "Han Wave," winning by 150,000 votes. Four months after taking office in 2019, he announced his presidential bid. In January 2020, he lost the presidential election by 2.65 million votes; on June 6 of the same year, he was recalled, becoming the first mayor in constitutional history to be recalled. In 2024, he returned to the Legislative Yuan as the KMT's top party-list legislator and was elected President of the Legislative Yuan on February 1.

From Banciao, Taipei to the Kaohsiung Frontline

Han Kuo-yu's family background is that of a "second-generation waishengren from Banciao, Taipei." His father, from Shangqiu, Henan, came to Taiwan with the Nationalist government in 1949. His mother was also of waishengren origin. He grew up in or near a military dependents' village in Banciao — a typical postwar first-generation waishengren household.⁴

His educational path blended military and liberal arts training. He attended the ROC Military Academy's intensive program — a short-term military training course, not the standard four-year program. After graduating from the intensive track, he earned a bachelor's degree in English from Soochow University, then a master's degree from National Chengchi University's Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies. The Institute is Taiwan's most prominent academic institution for China studies, and its graduates typically enter the national security, diplomatic, or cross-strait research systems.

These three stages of education reflect a classic "second-generation waishengren elite" trajectory: military foundation + humanities degree + cross-strait studies specialization. This was not a random combination but a standard formula the KMT system used to cultivate its own successors during the Cold War era. For second-generation waishengren born in the 1950s–1970s who wanted to enter politics, similar educational paths were common.

In 1993, he was elected to the 2nd Legislative Yuan and went on to serve three consecutive terms (2nd, 3rd, and 4th Legislative Yuan, 1993–2002). During his nine years in the legislature, he was known as a "firebrand" — someone willing to berate, to charge, and to confront opponents head-on. The KMT needed people like that at the time, because DPP legislators were fighting the same way.

After 2002, Han Kuo-yu gradually faded from the political scene. He served as deputy mayor of Zhonghe, Taipei County, but that was not a position that could put him back in front of cameras. From 2013 to 2017, he served as general manager of the Taipei Agricultural Marketing Corporation (TAMC) — a job managing a fruit and vegetable wholesale market, politically speaking close to exile.

During this period, he virtually disappeared from public view. Until the unexpected events of 2018.

"Kaohsiung Will Get Rich": How One Slogan Changed a City

In the 2018 nine-in-one local elections, the KMT needed a candidate for Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung had been a "green stronghold" under DPP rule for twenty consecutive years since 1998, and no politician from any KMT faction wanted to be the sacrificial lamb.

Han Kuo-yu was nominated. The prevailing calculation was: he will lose anyway, so find someone loud enough to "run alongside" and generate momentum, while also helping the KMT campaign in other counties and cities. He was the sacrifice.

Then the "Han Wave" happened.

His campaign language had a density never before seen in Taiwanese politics:

• "A bottle of mineral water, a bowl of braised pork rice" — signaling that he did not rely on corporate money, that he campaigned on the cheapest things
• "Northbound drift" (beipiao) — naming the phenomenon of Kaohsiung natives forced to leave home to find work in Taipei
• "Goods go out, people come in, Kaohsiung will get rich" — three phrases packaging economic hardship and hope into a single slogan⁵

What these slogans shared was: extreme concreteness, extreme populism, extreme emotion. They did not discuss policy details or governance philosophy; they went straight to voters' most primal pain points — young people could not stay, the economy was not growing, there was no hope. And they could be replicated, shared, and turned into internet memes.

The Reporter's post-election analysis in 2018 classified the "Han Wave" as an anti-establishment, anti-elite, grassroots electoral phenomenon.⁶ At the time, Taiwan's political narrative was dominated by the DPP under President Tsai Ing-wen, with language that leaned toward the rational, the international, reform, and progress. For certain voters — particularly those aged 40–49 who had witnessed Kaohsiung's economic glory and watched it decline — this language was incomprehensible and unwelcome.

Han Kuo-yu's emergence gave them something they could say.

In November 2018, Han Kuo-yu defeated his opponent Chen Chi-mai by a margin of 150,000 votes, becoming mayor of Kaohsiung. Green territory turned blue. It was the first time the DPP had lost Kaohsiung since 1998.

Four Months Later, He Decided to Run for President

The problem came next.

By late February to early March 2019 — only four months after being elected mayor of Kaohsiung — Han Kuo-yu began signaling his intention to run for the 2020 presidency. He said he was a "passive candidate," waiting for the KMT to formally draft him; but in reality, his team was staging rallies across the country, effectively launching a presidential campaign.

This decision was the starting point of his political collapse.

Kaohsiung voters had elected him hoping he would "boost the economy and make Kaohsiung rich," not use the mayoralty as a springboard to the presidency. When he threw himself into the presidential race, Kaohsiung's city governance effectively ground to a halt — the mayor was absent from Kaohsiung most of the time, his cabinet lacked leadership, major projects stalled, and cross-municipality negotiations stalled. Chen Chi-mai later won the August 2020 by-election easily, running precisely on the platform of "having a mayor who can focus on the job."⁷

Worse still was Han Kuo-yu's performance in the presidential election. On January 11, 2020:

• Tsai Ing-wen / Lai Ching-te: 8,170,231 votes (57.13%)
• Han Kuo-yu / Chang San-cheng: 5,522,119 votes (38.61%)
• James Soong / Yu Hsiang: 1,050,600 votes (4.26%)

Han Kuo-yu lost by a margin of 2.65 million votes. This was the third-largest margin of defeat in the history of Taiwan's direct presidential elections, behind only Ma Ying-jeou's 2.21 million-vote margin over Frank Hsieh in 2008 and Tsai Ing-wen's 3.08 million-vote margin over Eric Chu in 2016.

The Han Wave mythology of 2018 became the Han Wave collapse thirteen months later, in January 2020.

Recall: A City's Punishment

Two weeks after the presidential election, Kaohsiung citizens launched a recall petition. The reason: Han Kuo-yu used Kaohsiung as a springboard for his presidential bid, breaking his promise to voters.

The recall process has three stages: proposal (1% petition signatures), petition drive (10% signatures), and vote (approval votes must exceed 25% of eligible voters and outnumber opposition votes). Kaohsiung's recall petition set a record for speed — what was originally estimated to take at least four months was completed in just two.⁸

The vote was held on June 6, 2020. Turnout was 42%. Votes in favor of recall: 939,090. Votes against: 25,051.¹

The two numbers side by side make the picture even clearer: 939,000 vs. 25,000. Those in favor of recall outnumbered those against by a factor of 37. This was not a close result — it was a city's total repudiation of one person.

Han Kuo-yu became the first directly elected mayor in ROC constitutional history to be recalled.² His 528-day tenure also became the shortest of any special municipality mayor on record.

That night, Han Kuo-yu's statement was brief: "I respect the decision of Kaohsiung's citizens." No anger, no defense, no conspiracy theories. This was the polar opposite of his 2018 "Kaohsiung will get rich" fervor — but perhaps this was his true character: a second-generation waishengren who blended military discipline with political calculation, someone who knew when to bow his head.

From Recall to President of the Legislative Yuan: Four Years of Waiting

From June 2020 to November 2023, Han Kuo-yu virtually disappeared from public view. He did not run for any local office, did not hold any party position, did not host a television show, and did not publish a book. He occasionally appeared at internal KMT events but did not lead any major debates.

These three years were a carefully orchestrated wait.

In January 2024, Taiwan held the 16th presidential and vice-presidential election alongside the 11th Legislative Yuan election. The result was that the DPP won the presidency (Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Bi-khim with 40%) but lost its absolute majority in the Legislative Yuan. The seat distribution:

• KMT: 52 seats (largest party)
• DPP: 51 seats
• Taiwan People's Party: 8 seats
• Independents: 2 seats

The KMT became the largest party in the Legislative Yuan by a one-seat margin and, by constitutional convention, could nominate the President of the Legislative Yuan.

Eric Chu (KMT chairman) announced in late 2023 that Han Kuo-yu would be the KMT's number-one party-list legislator for 2024.⁹ The reasoning: Han Kuo-yu's low-profile restraint after the Kaohsiung recall demonstrated his respect for democratic institutions; his campaign mobilization ability remained an asset for the KMT; and as a candidate for Legislative Yuan President, he had debate experience, media charisma, and a background in cross-factional negotiation.

The number-one party-list slot meant "guaranteed election." On January 13, 2024, the KMT's party-list seats were allocated according to vote share, and Han Kuo-yu returned to the Legislative Yuan.

On February 1, the first day of the new session, the KMT and TPP jointly nominated Han Kuo-yu for President of the Legislative Yuan. The vote: Han Kuo-yu received 54 votes (52 from the KMT + 2 from the TPP), while the DPP's nominee You Si-kun received 51. Han Kuo-yu was elected President of the Legislative Yuan.

From recall to President of the Legislative Yuan: 3 years and 8 months.

Epilogue: A Politician's Two Lives

There is a dimension of Han Kuo-yu's story that is rarely examined closely: he is the first politician in Taiwan's democratic system to have experienced both recall and resurrection.

The path from being recalled in June 2020 to assuming the presidency of the Legislative Yuan in February 2024 has no precedent in the four decades since Taiwan's democratization. Chen Shui-bian did not return after being indicted; Lien Chan retreated behind the scenes after losing the party chairmanship; James Soong rose and fell multiple times as PFP chairman but never returned to the central core. Han Kuo-yu is the only person to have undergone a constitutional-level recall and then occupied the highest parliamentary position at the constitutional level.

The significance of this is not about him personally. It is about what the recall system actually accomplishes in practice.

By design, recall is the people's ultimate sanction against a derelict official. But from Han Kuo-yu's example, recall in practice only means "losing a specific office" — it does not mean "losing a political life." Voters recalled him as mayor of Kaohsiung, but they could not recall him from serving as a legislator, a chairman, or any other position. He could wait — as long as a new opportunity appeared, he could come back.

This is an interesting feature of Taiwan's constitutional system: individual offices can be recalled, but individual politicians are not permanently banned. There are sound reasons for this (avoiding political persecution, preserving the people's freedom to choose), but there is also a cost (failed politicians can keep coming back).

Han Kuo-yu's return in February 2024 brought this cost into the open. When the person whom 930,000 voters had kicked out of Kaohsiung City Hall walked into the Legislative Yuan chamber four years later and was sworn in as the highest official of the national legislature — what did those 930,000 votes from Kaohsiung mean?

One interpretation is: democracy does not hold grudges. A recall is a decision about the present, not an eternal verdict.

Another interpretation is: recall is inherently limited by design. It guarantees the right to "remove a mayor" but does not guarantee the right to "never see this person again." Democracy is a procedure, not an emotion.

The truth probably lies somewhere in between. And Han Kuo-yu himself may be the quietest beneficiary of this procedural gap.

Further Reading:

• 2026 Zheng-Xi Meeting: Ten Minutes of Cross-Strait Leadership Reunion After a Decade — The 2026 Legislative Yuan budget negotiations in April, presided over by Han Kuo-yu; the Zheng-Xi meeting and the Legislative Yuan's special budget bill fell in the same week
• Cheng Li-wen — Two of the most important KMT figures in 2025–2026, one the party chairman and the other the Legislative Yuan President, representing different ecosystems within the party
• Hsiao Bi-khim — A counterpoint: Hsiao Bi-khim spent six years in Hualien before winning a legislative seat; Han Kuo-yu was recalled after 528 days in Kaohsiung. Democracy has many kinds of time curves
• Taiwan's Political Environment and Electoral System — How does the party-list legislator system allow "recalled politicians" like Han Kuo-yu to come back? The answer lies in the electoral rules themselves
• Ko Wen-je — Another figure who went from political outsider to mayor, from mayor to presidential candidate, from presidential candidate to the eye of the storm; the "meteoric rise and fall" structure is similar
• Lu Shiow-yen — The other pole of the 2018 Han Wave, the Taichung mayor who flipped blue territory to blue the same year as Han Kuo-yu
• Hsin Chiao-hsin — The key proponent of the NT$80 billion military procurement version in the 2026 arms purchase controversy, and a critical presence in Han Kuo-yu's Legislative Yuan negotiations
• Chi Lin-lian — The vice chairman who threatened at the April 29, 2026, Central Standing Committee meeting that "those who sell the party for personal glory should be expelled" — the real target of that statement was Han Kuo-yu

References