Mainland China-friendly Taiwanese lawmaker tipped to lead group tasked with promoting democracy

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Han Kuo-yu, Taiwan’s new legislative speaker from the mainland-friendly Kuomintang (KMT), is expected to take up the helm as chairman of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD), an entity sanctioned by Beijing.

The non-profit, government-funded organisation plays a key role in Taiwan’s engagement with the world. Its stated goals are to build partnerships with civil society groups, think tanks, and non-governmental groups in democratic countries, support democratisation in Asia, and to further Taiwan’s democratic development through international exchanges.

In practice, this has meant hosting international delegations and conferences, publishing research, and providing grant funding to support democracy and human rights-related activities.

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Some in the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have voiced concerns about what Han’s chairmanship would mean for Taiwan. Hong Sun-han, a DPP legislator, said this week that many in Taiwanese civil society feared that Han could use the TFD to advance cross-strait “integration work” as the administration of former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou did during its tenure.

Han is expected to assume the role later this month.

The foundation is typically chaired by the island’s legislative president, with the minister of foreign affairs serving as the vice-chairman and the secretary general of the president’s office as director.

Its other board members are legislators – nominated proportionally to party representation in the legislature – as well as representatives from academia, non-governmental organisations and the financial sector.

In 2022, after then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, Beijing banned the foundation from cooperating with mainland organisations, businesses and individuals, saying it had “wantonly carried out ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities in the international arena”.

Whether those sanctions could be lifted under Han’s chairmanship remained to be seen, but his leadership could have a positive impact on Taiwan’s contact with the mainland, Tso Chen-Dong, professor of international relations at National Taiwan University, said in an interview with local media.

Han lost Taiwan’s presidential election to the DPP’s Tsai Ing-wen in 2020 and was recalled as Kaohsiung mayor shortly after. But he topped the opposition KMT’s party list in this year’s elections.

Han’s pro-Beijing politics are viewed with extreme scepticism by the independence-leaning DPP, particularly following a 2019 visit to Hong Kong and mainland China in which he met then-Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam and several Communist Party officials.

As lawmakers voted in the speaker election last month, some Taiwanese groups protested outside the island’s legislature, holding banners saying “Han Kuo-yu brings in the Communist Party”.

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But the near-even split in the island’s new legislature meant the foundation’s activities probably would not change much under the new government, said Chen Fang-yu, a professor of political science at Soochow University in Taipei. However, the KMT’s slight majority means the organisation’s budget could face challenges.

Chen said the KMT’s legislative majority during Ma’s tenure allowed then-legislative president Wang Jin-pyng to turn the TFD into a “foundation for cross-strait relations”.

“Many people found that the TFD became a travel agency to always give funding to cross-strait relations, not the promotion of human rights or democracy,” Chen said.

“However, because the DPP is the ruling party, that won’t happen. I don’t think Han Kuo-yu has the ability to turn the TFD into a role similar to under Ma Ying-jeou.”

There was media speculation that the DPP might try to block Han from assuming the chairmanship, but the party’s leadership dismissed those suggestions.

Chen said the real gridlock would happen over negotiations for the roles of CEO and three vice-CEOs, because they played a direct role in running the organisation. Those negotiations are expected to continue throughout the month.

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