Han Kuo-yu

Han Kuo-yu (born 17 June 1957) is a Taiwanese politician and retired Republic of China Army officer who is the current president of the Legislative Yuan.

Han graduated from the Republic of China Military Academy, Soochow University, and National Chengchi University.

Also known by the English names Daniel Han, Han Kuo-yu was born in Taiwan to parents from Henan, on 17 June 1957.

He attended National Banqiao Primary School, followed by Paul Hsu Senior High School, New Taipei Municipal Hai-Shan High School, and Heng Yee Catholic High School.

Han studied English literature at Soochow University after graduating from the Republic of China Military Academy, and he earned a Master of Arts in East Asian studies from the Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies of National Chengchi University in 1988.

He wrote his master's degree thesis with the title A Look at the Negotiations during the 'Two Airlines Uprising' from the Perspective of the Communist Party of China's (United Front) Strategy.

Prior to running for public office, Han worked as a school principal.

Han won the Zhonghe seat on the Taipei County Council in 1990, and served until 1993, when he took office as a member of the Legislative Yuan.

Han was the founding leader of what became the New Taipei City Hakka Association, serving from 1992 to 1998.

He was first elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992 and remained in office until 2002, serving for a time as Kuomintang (KMT) caucus leader.

As a legislator, he became known for his combative personality, most famously assaulting the opposition legislator and future president Chen Shui-bian in the Legislative Yuan on one occasion.

For their support of the construction of the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant, Han, Hung Hsiu-chu, Chan Yu-jen, and Lin Chih-chia were targeted with an unsuccessful recall referendum.

He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1993 to 2002, representing a portion of Taipei County for three terms.

He later became general manager of Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation.

Subsequently, Han lost reelection to the legislature in 2001.

He then served as deputy mayor of Zhonghe under mayor Chiu Chui-yi.

After leaving politics, Han lived in Yunlin County, in his wife's hometown, where he became friendly with former Yunlin County Magistrate Chang Jung-wei.

Due to their friendly relationship, Han was believed to be Chang's ally.

In January 2013, with Chang's support, Han became the general manager of Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation (TAPMC), a corporation jointly owned by Taipei City and the Council of Agriculture.

The TAPMC manages the produce demands of the greater Taipei area.

In 2017, Han contested the Kuomintang chairmanship, losing to Wu Den-yih.

In January 2017, Han resigned from his position as president of TAPMC to enter that year's Kuomintang chairmanship election.

He finished fourth in a field of six candidates.

Following his loss to Wu Den-yih, Han served as the Kuomintang's Kaohsiung chapter director.

Han was elected Mayor of Kaohsiung in November 2018, and became the first Kuomintang politician since Wu in 1998 to hold the office.

In May 2018, Han won the Kuomintang's Kaohsiung mayoral primary, defeating rival Chen Yi-min, and was subsequently nominated as the party's mayoral candidate.

During the initial campaign stage, he received almost no support from the party as he was seen as unlikely to win the election due to the traditionally deep-rooted Democratic Progressive Party presence in Kaohsiung.

However, his popularity soared within months during the campaign period, a phenomenon which has been termed "Hánliú".

The main focus of his campaign was on the air pollution and economic growth of Kaohsiung.

Despite his claims of having minimal support for his Kaohsiung election, accordingly to paperwork filed with the Central Election Commission, Han received and spent the most compared to the other mayoral races in Taiwan.

Campaign contributions totaled NT$129,149,779 (US$4,304,992) and expenses totaled NT$140,873,536 (US$4,695,784).

The amounts exceeded the NT$88,841,000 cap placed by election rules.

Han defeated Chen Chi-mai in local elections held on 24 November 2018, and became the first Mayor of Kaohsiung affiliated with the Kuomintang since Wu Den-yih left office in 1998.

The success of the KMT during the elections has been attributed to Han's popularity.

The day after he won the mayoral election, Han invited Foxconn to invest in Kaohsiung.

In addition, he sought fluent English speakers to fill vacancies in his administration pertaining to promotion and public relations.

He was the KMT candidate for the 2020 Taiwanese presidential election, but lost to Tsai Ing-wen.

On 6 June 2020, Han was recalled from his position as mayor and officially stepped down on 12 June.

He returned to the Legislative Yuan after winning a party-list seat in the 2024 legislative election.

Han took office as member and was elected the President of the Legislative Yuan on 1 February 2024.