Han Kuo-yu facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Honorable Han Kuo-yu MLY
韓國瑜
Official portrait, 2024
13th President of the Legislative Yuan
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 February 2024
Vice President	Johnny Chiang
Preceded by	You Si-kun
Member of the Legislative Yuan
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 February 2024
Constituency	Party-list (KMT)
In office 1 February 1993 – 31 January 2002
Constituency	See list Taipei County (1993–1999) Taipei County 3 (1999–2002)
2nd Mayor of Kaohsiung
In office 25 December 2018 – 12 June 2020*
Deputy	See list Lee Shu-chuan Yeh Kuang-shih Hung Tung-wei [zh] (2018–2019) Chen Hsiung-wen (2019)
Preceded by	Hsu Li-ming (acting)
Succeeded by	Yang Ming-jou (acting)
Other offices 4th Head of Kaohsiung Chapter of the Kuomintang In office 7 September 2017 – 19 January 2019 Chairman Wu Den-yih Preceded by Huang Po-lin Succeeded by Chuang Chi-wang 4th General Manager of the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation In office 1 January 2013 – 31 March 2017 Mayor Hau Lung-pin Ko Wen-je Preceded by Chang Ching-liang Succeeded by Wu Ying-ning
Taipei County Councilor
In office 1 March 1990 – 31 January 1993
Constituency	Zhonghe District
Personal details
Born	(1957-06-17) 17 June 1957 (age 68) Taipei County, Taiwan
Political party	Kuomintang
Spouse	Lee Chia-fen
Children	3
Education	Republic of China Military Academy (BS) Soochow University (BA) National Chengchi University (MA) Peking University
Military service
Branch/service	Republic of China Army
Years of service	1975–1981
Rank	Major
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	韓國瑜
Simplified Chinese	韩国瑜
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hán Guóyú Bopomofo ㄏㄢˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊㄩˊ Wade–Giles Han² Kuo²-yü² Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Hon4 Gwok3 jyu4 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Hân Kok-jû
*Yeh Kuang-shih was acting mayor from 16 October 2019 – 11 January 2020.

Han Kuo-yu (born 17 June 1957), also known as Daniel Han, is a well-known politician from Taiwan. He used to be an officer in the Republic of China Army. Currently, he is the president of the Legislative Yuan, which is like the head of Taiwan's parliament.

Han studied at the Republic of China Military Academy, Soochow University, and National Chengchi University. He was a member of the Legislative Yuan (Taiwan's law-making body) from 1993 to 2002. Later, he became the general manager of a company that sells agricultural products in Taipei. In 2017, Han ran for the leadership of the Kuomintang political party but did not win.

In November 2018, Han was elected Mayor of Kaohsiung, a major city in Taiwan. He was the first politician from the Kuomintang party to hold this position since 1998. He then became the Kuomintang's candidate for the 2020 Taiwanese presidential election, but he lost to Tsai Ing-wen. On 6 June 2020, people voted to remove him from his position as mayor, and he officially left office on 12 June. He returned to the Legislative Yuan after winning a seat in the 2024 Taiwanese legislative election. On 1 February 2024, Han became a member of the Legislative Yuan and was elected its president.

Early Life and Education

Han Kuo-yu was born in Taiwan on 17 June 1957. His parents were from Henan, a place in China. He went to several schools, including Banqiao Primary School and different high schools.

After finishing at the Republic of China Military Academy, he studied English literature at Soochow University. In 1988, he earned a master's degree in East Asian studies from National Chengchi University. His master's paper was about negotiations between two airlines from the perspective of the Communist Party of China. Before he started working in politics, Han was a school principal.

From 2001 to 2009, Han also studied political science in Beijing at Peking University.

Beginning His Political Journey

Han started his political career by winning a seat on the Taipei County Council in 1990. He served there until 1993. He also helped start the New Taipei City Hakka Association and led it from 1992 to 1998.

Serving in the Legislative Yuan

Han was first elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. He stayed in office until 2002. During this time, he was a leader for the Kuomintang (KMT) party in the Legislative Yuan. He was known for his strong personality and sometimes had heated arguments with other politicians.

Han and some other politicians faced an attempt to remove them from office because they supported building the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant. This attempt was not successful. However, Han lost his election for the legislature in 2001. After that, he worked as a deputy mayor in Zhonghe District.

Leading a Food Company

After leaving politics for a while, Han lived in Yunlin County. In January 2013, he became the general manager of the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation (TAPMC). This company helps manage the supply of fruits and vegetables for the greater Taipei area.

Running for Party Leader

In January 2017, Han left his job at TAPMC to run for the leader of the Kuomintang party. He finished fourth among six candidates. After losing, Han became the director of the Kuomintang's office in Kaohsiung.

Mayor of Kaohsiung City

Han's campaign rally in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung on 17 November 2018.

In May 2018, Han won the Kuomintang's internal election to become their candidate for mayor of Kaohsiung. At first, many people thought he would not win because Kaohsiung had traditionally supported a different political party.

However, his popularity grew very quickly during the campaign. This sudden rise in popularity was called "Hánliú" (meaning "Han Wave"). His campaign focused on improving air quality and helping Kaohsiung's economy grow.

Han won the election on 24 November 2018, defeating Chen Chi-mai. He became the first Kuomintang mayor of Kaohsiung since 1998. Many people believed his popularity helped the Kuomintang party do well in other elections too.

How people voted in different areas during the 2018 Kaohsiung mayoral election.

After winning, Han invited the company Foxconn to invest in Kaohsiung. He also looked for people who spoke English well to help with promoting the city. Han supported the 1992 consensus, which is an idea about cross-strait relations between Taiwan and mainland China. He said he would create groups to work on these relations. On 3 December 2018, Yeh Kuang-shih became Han's deputy mayor. Another deputy mayor, Lee Shu-chuan, was appointed on 15 December 2018.

Han officially became mayor on 25 December 2018. At his inauguration, he promised to promote Kaohsiung's products, bring more money into the city, pay off the city's debt, and invest in future generations through education where students learn in two languages.

In February 2019, Han traveled to Malaysia and Singapore to discuss business and tourism for Kaohsiung. This was his first official trip outside Taiwan as mayor.

In March 2019, Han and other city officials visited Hong Kong, Macau, and Mainland China. They went to talk about agriculture and trade. During this trip, Han met with leaders in these places. He also visited offices that represent mainland China, which was a new step for a Taiwanese politician. The trip resulted in trade deals worth a lot of money for Kaohsiung.

In April 2019, Han visited the United States. He went to Boston, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley. He wanted to encourage American companies to invest in Kaohsiung. He met with members of the United States Congress and gave talks at universities like Harvard University and Stanford University.

Being Recalled from Office

After returning to Kaohsiung, a petition began to remove Han from his position as mayor. On 17 January 2020, enough people signed the petition to move forward. On 7 April, it was confirmed that enough signatures were valid for a special vote to happen in June.

Even though Han asked his supporters not to vote, he was removed from office. About 40% of voters participated, and 97% of them voted to recall him.

Running for President in 2020

Soon after Han became mayor, some people started suggesting he should run for president in the 2020 Taiwan presidential election. At first, Han said he would not run. But later, he changed his mind and said he would follow the Kuomintang's process for choosing a presidential candidate. On 5 June 2019, Han announced he would run for president.

He held several rallies for his campaign. On 15 July, he won the Kuomintang's primary election and officially became their presidential candidate on 28 July 2019.

On 8 September 2019, Han held a large rally in New Taipei City. He spoke about his main goals: protecting the Republic of China, loving Chinese culture, supporting freedom and democracy, and helping people who are struggling. He took a three-month break from being mayor to focus on his presidential campaign. During this time, Yeh Kuang-shih took over his mayoral duties. Some media called Han the "Taiwanese Trump" because of his direct way of speaking and similar political ideas to former American president Donald Trump.

On 11 November 2019, Han chose Chang San-cheng to be his running mate (the person who would become vice president if he won). Han and Chang finished second in the presidential election, losing to the current president Tsai Ing-wen and her running mate William Lai.

President of the Legislative Yuan

Han presenting the Seal of Honour to Lai Ching-te during his presidential inauguration

In November 2023, Han was placed first on the Kuomintang's list of candidates for the 2024 Taiwanese legislative election. This meant he was likely to win a seat in the Legislative Yuan. Weeks before starting his new term, Han said he was interested in becoming the speaker. Han won the election for Yuan President with 54 votes.

Personal Life

Han is married to Lee Chia-fen. They have three children together. In January 2022, Han published a book of short stories. He also started a charity called the Light Up Foundation.

See also

In Spanish: Han Kuo-yu para niños