Kaohsiung Mayor In Hong Kong For Rare Visit

Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu arrived in Hong Kong on Friday morning on a rare visit by a Taiwan politician, to promote trade between the two cities.

Han, a Beijing-friendly member of the opposition Kuomintang party, will meet the Chief Executive Carrie Lam in the afternoon, and attend an event promoting agricultural products, before going on to visit Macau, Shenzhen and Xiamen.

Before leaving Taiwan, Han said his week-long trip to the SAR and the mainland will focus on boosting the island’s economy, and that he will refrain from discussing politics.

Han had won the mayoral race for Taiwan’s third-largest city – a longtime stronghold of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) – last November in an upset.

The brash politician landed himself in controversy last month by likening the relationship between the mainland and Taiwan to an ‘arranged marriage’ where both sides have fallen ‘madly in love.’

Han is seen as a potential contender for Taiwan’s presidential election next year. However, he has refused to confirm this, telling the Sing Tao Daily newspaper “let’s see in the future” when asked whether he will run.