Kaohsiung mayor in hot water after commentator dredges up footage showing him promising to drill for oil on Taiping Island

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/26
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In response to itinerant Kaohsiung mayor and Kuomintang (KMT)

presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu's (韓國瑜) denial that he had made a promise to raise money for the city by drilling for oil in the South China Sea, political critic Huang Kuang-chin (黃光芹) cited excerpts from a previous interview in which Han made such a pledge.

During a visit on Monday (Sept. 23) to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus at the city council, Kaohsiung City Councilor Kao Min-lin (高閔琳) asked Han how much of the budget had been allocated for oil drilling on Taiping Island (太平島) of the Spratly Islands (南沙群島). Han then replied, "Who said anything about drilling for oil?"

On her political commentary program "News Face-to-Face" (新聞面對面) on Tuesday, Huang said Han has stepped on a big "landmine" this time, "because even children know that Han had pledged to drill for oil on Taiping Island, and there is even combustible ice." Huang said that she not only has audio and video of Han making this promise but an entire interview in which he focused on the topic.
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