Although Han Kuo-yu, presidential candidate for the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang, or KMT, is currently trailing Taiwan's incumbent, Tsai Ing-wen, by more than 15 percentage points, the wave he has unleashed is a new Trump-like political factor in Taiwan that is bound to linger for many years.
To become mayor of Kaohsiung, his political launchpad, in November 2018, Han defied the odds by prevailing against Chen Chi-mai, a seasoned politician from the Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, which had ruled the southern port city for nearly two decades.
