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Taiwan
ChinaPolitics

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

  • The island’s legislative speaker, Han Kuo-yu of the KMT, is expected to chair the Beijing-sanctioned Taiwan Foundation for Democracy
  • Some in the ruling DPP are concerned he could use the group to advance cross-strait ‘integration work’ as former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou did

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Han Kuo-yu’s pro-Beijing politics are viewed with extreme scepticism by Taiwan’s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party. Photo: AP
Jordyn Haime
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.
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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.

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.

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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”.

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