Taiwan elects president of Parliament considered pro-China by government officials

The Parliament of Taiwan elected, this Thursday (1st), a former presidential candidate from the largest opposition party as its new president.

Han Kuo-yu will be responsible for receiving visiting foreign parliamentarians and is considered pro-China by the ruling party.

Last month, Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidential election, but the party lost its majority in Parliament.

China, which claims Taiwan as his, despite the objections of the Taipei government, considers the DPP to be separatist.

According to the presidential system of government of Taiwanit is the president who appoints the prime minister, although, without a majority in Parliament, the DPP has to work with the opposition to pass its legislative agenda.

Han Kuo-yu of the largest opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT), who lost the presidential election by a large margin to Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP in 2020, won the election for the post of Speaker of Parliament.

One of his most important functions is to welcome the many foreign parliamentarians who visit Taiwan.

The most impactful recent example was then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 2022 trip that angered China so much that it launched war games around the island after she left.

During the election campaign, Lai said that if Han became Speaker of Parliament, he would take KMT mayors to visit China and meet with Chinese officials.

The DPP also ran a television advertisement accusing Han of being pro-China.