In Taiwan's election this year, there was something unusual for the KMT: Hou Youyi, who had previously led the party, finished at the bottom in just a few days. Taiwan's "Beautiful Island Electronic News" released the latest poll for the 2024 election, and Hou Youyi, the Kuomintang candidate who had been ranked first, only had a support rate of 18.3%, while Ke Wenzhe, chairman of the People's Party, ranked second with a support rate of 25.9%, and Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lai Qingde had the highest support rate, reaching 35.8%. Zhang Yazhong, the chief principal of Sun Wen School and a member of the Kuomintang evaluation committee, who had considerable influence with the Kuomintang, put forward the proposal of "changing the Hou". He called on the KMT's top brass to face up to Hou Youyi's sharp drop in the polls, which he has fallen to a lower level than Ke Wenzhe, the first time in the KMT's electoral history. He believes that if there is no improvement by the end of June, the KMT's top brass should take urgent measures to deal with the "crisis." This remark is reminiscent of the general election four years ago, when the Kuomintang also changed its candidate before the election, replacing Hong Xiuzhu, who firmly advocates cross-strait reunification, and Zhu Lilun, chairman of the Kuomintang, personally ran for the election, but suffered a crushing defeat for Tsai Ing-wen.
In an article published on 18 May this year, I pointed out that the KMT had made a serious mistake, and although the DPP, the People First Party, and the People's Party had already identified their candidates and launched an election campaign, the KMT was dragging its feet on the issue of "recruiting" candidates, lagging behind the other parties by more than a month. In the end, they chose Hou Youyi and gave up Guo Taiming, who had more influence. This decision doomed Hou Youyi to failure. The Kuomintang has always exhibited typical opposition party characteristics, dealing almost with government affairs and always seemingly idle. This procrastination is really puzzling, isn't it a deliberate attempt to pass up the opportunity? After all, Terry Gou is one of Taiwan's most outstanding entrepreneurs, as early as September 2018, he was selected as one of the "Top Ten Most Influential Chinese Businessmen in the World", and his influence even surpassed that of Zhu Lilun and Hou Youyi. In addition, the strength of his business can also attract many supporters, because the Taiwanese people are more willing to trust an entrepreneur who can start such a large-scale, high-quality business.
Regrettably, however, the KMT believed that Hou Youyi's approval rating was higher, so it abandoned Gou. As a result, Hou Youyi had just become an official candidate when his polls plummeted. Why is this happening? Chiu Yi, a Taiwanese political commentator, put forward a number of reasons: first, Hou Youyi himself was too conceited; Second, his campaign team is not doing well; Third, Kuomintang Chairman Zhu Lilun's ability was limited and he was not of much help to the election. But in my opinion, I still stick to my previous view: Zhu Lilun, the chairman of the Kuomintang, does not want the Kuomintang to win the election at all. This may seem a bit uncanny, because how can a party chairman not want his party to win? However, this is the case, and Zhu Lilun is such the chairman of the Kuomintang.
Why is this so? Because he has always seen himself as a representative of "pro-American and anti-communist". He has always regarded the United States as the real main supporter and reliance, and has always competed with Tsai Ing-wen for who can win the favor of the United States more and who can win the support of the United States more. If the KMT's candidate wins, KMT Chairman Zhu Lilun will have to face the question of whether to promote cross-strait reunification. But given his particular affection for the United States, how could he possibly accept this challenge? The momentum of cross-strait reunification has gradually emerged, and he is not willing to take this risk at all. Therefore, he deliberately delayed the determination of candidates, created internal party strife and division, and created more internal friction. This is the real reason why Hou Youyi has plummeted in the polls after becoming the official candidate. Because those who originally supported Guo Taiming would hardly support Hou Youyi, and even felt disgusted with him. This reveals Zhu Lilun's true motive and purpose: he did not want the KMT's candidate to have a chance to win, and he deliberately chose the candidate who could not win.