SOUTHERN TAIWAN KMT LEADERS POSITIONING THE PARTY - AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 001042 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR AIT/W, EAP/TC, INR/EAP FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ECON TW SUBJECT: SOUTHERN TAIWAN KMT LEADERS POSITIONING THE PARTY - AND THEMSELVES - FOR CRUCIAL MAYORAL RACE SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In a July 9 luncheon with DIR Young, prominent local KMT leaders assessed the early stages of President Ma's administration and blamed Ma's lagging poll ratings on the declining stock market and rising prices. Participants hoped that Terry Gou's Hon Hai electronics' major investment in Kaohsiung would bring the city prosperity, but doubted that proposals to establish casinos in southern Taiwan had much prospect for success. Noting their interest in realizing the benefits of direct cross-Strait flights to Kaohsiung, they suggested that if Mayor Chen leaned too far forward on direct flights, she would alienate her core deep-Green supporters. All agreed that Mayor Chen would run for re-election in 2010 if her health allowed. Although still two years away, the 2010 mayoral election stage is already shaping up to be a fierce battle within both blue and green camps, as recent local KMT gains and DPP setbacks have led both sides to believe that this coveted seat is up for grabs. End summary. Kaohsiung's KMT Titans: Looking to Mayoral Race -------------- --- ¶2. (SBU) During his July 9 visit to Kaohsiung, DIR Young hosted lunch for several of Kaohsiung City's most prominent KMT officials - powerful City Council Speaker Chuang Chi-wang, newly-minted Executive Yuan (EY) Southern Taiwan Office CEO Luo Shih-hsiung, two-time narrowly-defeated KMT Kaohsiung City mayoral candidate Huang Chun-ying, successful Kaohsiung City KMT Party Chair Hsu Fu-ming, and popular Legislative Yuan (LY) member Lee Fu-hsiung. The KMT is enjoying a winning streak of sorts in Kaohsiung, as it took three of five seats in the January 2008 LY election and Ma Ying-jeou decisively beat Frank Hsieh in Kaohsiung during the March 2008 Presidential election. The KMT has high hopes that it can retake this coveted mayoral seat in 2010, and both Chuang and Luo reportedly are interested in running. Presidential Politics: Assessing Ma -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Rehashing the outcome of the spring presidential election, Speaker Chuang mentioned that Ma's success in Kaohsiung City was due in large part to his effective campaign style. He promised the economic changes people were seeking and connected with voters in the south through his "long stay" program. The "long stay" visits in particular allowed him to campaign as a person beyond his party affiliation and were vital to his victory in Kaohsiung City, Chuang observed. ¶4. (SBU) DIR noted that he had recently spoken to former President Lee Teng-hui about the current political situation. Everyone agreed that President Ma's nomination of Lee supporter and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) insider Lai Hsin-yuan as Mainland Affairs Council Chairman was intended to be a goodwill gesture to former President Lee. City KMT Chair Hsu noted that while Lee did not openly support Ma in the last election, his TSU refrained from endorsing Frank Hsieh and was thus friendly to Ma's campaign. (Note: Lee came out at the last minute and announced he would vote for Hsieh.) ¶5. (SBU) Alluding to Ma's difficulties with the Legislative Yuan regarding his nominees to the Control and Examination Yuans, DIR noted that some observers felt Ma was to blame because he failed to win over legislators prior to the vote. Legislator Lee Fu-hsing commented that he would not openly criticize Ma's handling of the nomination process. He mentioned that he did, however, write a letter to Ma expressing his disappointment. Economic Troubles: Hoping for a Turnaround -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Several lunch participants suggested that President Ma's "honeymoon" in southern Taiwan might be over, as people were growing impatient waiting for the region's promised economic revitalization to take shape. Speaker Chuang confirmed that the KMT's biggest concern in Kaohsiung is the economy, which had thus far remained stagnant. Chuang said that many of President Ma's supporters invested in the stock market following the election, hoping from his election promises that an economic turnaround was imminent. Until TAIPEI 00001042 002 OF 003 the market improved, he speculated, Ma's approval ratings were likely to continue declining. ¶7. (SBU) Asked if Terry Gou's planned Hon Hai investment in Kaohsiung would help to alleviate the City's economic and unemployment woes, CEO Luo commented that Hon Hai would bring its own highly trained engineers to Kaohsiung and would thus not create employment opportunities for blue collar workers. Luo noted, however, that if Hon Hai also decided to build a factory in Kaohsiung County, as some were suggesting would happen, more jobs could be created. He added that Hon Hai was considering relocating its transshipment operations from Vietnam to Kaohsiung - a move that would be an economic shot in the arm for both the harbor and the city. Hon Hai's mainland subsidiary, Foxconn, was currently the largest exporter in China and had an enormous amount invested in its Vietnam operations. If the firm were to move its transshipment center to Kaohsiung, the KMT would score a major victory in the south that would translate into political capital for future elections. ¶8. (SBU) Regarding the proposal to build casinos in Penghu, CEO Luo noted that a Penghu referendum on the issue had passed with over fifty-percent support and predicted that casinos would indeed be coming to Penghu. Speaker Chuang, however, doubted that any casino company would agree to invest in Penghu given the competition from nearby gambling centers like Macau. He suggested that Kinmen would be a better location for casinos given its proximity to the PRC and greater potential to attract PRC tourists. Cross-Strait Links: Applauding Direct Flights -------------- - ¶9. (SBU) Lunch participants agreed that the KMT in Kaohsiung needed to capitalize on the opening of direct cross-Strait fights. Speaker Chuang noted that the DPP and Kaohsiung City Mayor Chen were in a quandary regarding these flights. Chen had already been criticized for not doing more to promote Kaohsiung tourism in the PRC - a misstep that some say explained why Kaohsiung did not receive any direct flights on the first day of service. However, if Chen were to throw her full support behind the flights, she would risk losing the support of deep-Green backers wary of drawing closer to the Mainland. Taking advantage of this dilemma, Speaker Chuang and CEO Luo both said they would visit Guangzhou on July 18 with a delegation from the Development Bureau to encourage tourism to Kaohsiung. This issue was likely to be key in the early stages of the Kaohsiung mayoral race, they suggested. ¶10. (SBU) The group concurred that the biggest draw attracting Mainland tourists to come to Taiwan was not the island's infrastructure but rather its culture and vibrant democracy. They recommended that tours be set up to highlight these aspects of Taiwan, for example by taking tourists to visit Kaohsiung's City Council. 2010 Mayoral Race: Vetting DPP Candidates -------------- ¶11. (SBU) On possible DPP candidates for the 2010 Kaohsiung mayoral race, all agreed that Kaohsiung City Mayor Chen Chu would likely run for a second term. As evidence, they pointed to her choice of Huang Chao-huei, a seasoned campaign organizer, to be Civil Affairs Bureau Director. They related that they had already seen Huang's influence in Mayor Chen's sit-in to protest delays in Kaohsiung's proposed Pop Music Center. They also believed that DPP Kaohsiung County Magistrate Yang Chiu-hsing was interested in running as he had recently bought a house in Kaohsiung City. However, they agreed that Yang was more influential in Kaohsiung County than in Kaohsiung City and that he would face stiff competition from incumbent Mayor Chen. Lunch participants also revealed that another rumored contender, former acting DPP Mayor Chen Chi-mai, would probably not run after all, as he was more interested in a Legislative Yuan seat. ¶12. (SBU) Lunch participants added that Frank Hsieh, still influential in Kaohsiung City politics, remained a force in the DPP. They suspected that he may be waiting to replace DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen at the end of her term. They pointed out that in a recent TV interview, Hsieh declared that he might be forced to TAIPEI 00001042 003 OF 003 return to politics in order to protect his political interests - a move that would put Tsai in a difficult position. They also speculated that Tsai would be a leading contender for the DPP's 2012 presidential ticket, along with former 2008 DPP Vice Presidential candidate Su Tseng-Chang. Comment -------------- ¶13. (SBU) The KMT faces a difficult political challenge in Kaohsiung. As Speaker Chuang explained to DIR, Ma's "long stays" resonated with southern Taiwan voters who responded to his message of economic regeneration in the south. The local KMT is eager to translate Ma's campaign promises for Kaohsiung into reality, but only in a manner that scores political points for the KMT and not the DPP. Meanwhile, the DPP and Mayor Chen can place the blame on Ma's administration if it fails to meet local voters' high expectations in the near term, and they can even claim credit for central government largesse. With Mayor Chen possibly facing a bruising primary challenge within the DPP, local KMT officials hope that a strong candidate leading a unified local party will clinch victory for them in 2010. However, the KMT's recent electoral successes in the city and the DPP's setbacks have encouraged a host of potential KMT mayoral aspirants, and even at this early stage, the KMT field is getting very crowded. End comment. CASTRO YOUNG