TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The chairman of Taiwan's main opposition party extended congratulations to South Korea's newly elected president on Wednesday (June 4), drawing parallels between their respective approaches to regional security challenges. Eric Chu (朱立倫), who leads the Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨), Taiwan's historically China-friendly party, praised Lee Jae-myung (李在明) of South Korea's Democratic Party for his security stance, which Chu claimed mirrors the KMT's own "Double D Strategy" (defense and dialogue) emphasizing both military preparedness and diplomatic engagement with adversaries.
In remarks to reporters at KMT headquarters, Chu framed the South Korean election as a cautionary tale against authoritarian tendencies in democratic societies. The opposition leader portrayed Korean voters' selection of Lee as a deliberate move toward diplomatic engagement on the divided peninsula, suggesting parallels to his party's preferred cross-strait approach with China. Chu particularly emphasized Lee's carefully calibrated position between Washington and Beijing as evidence of an emerging international consensus on managing great power competition, implying Taiwan's current government should adopt a similar balanced stance rather than its perceived pro-American orientation.
In the same press conference, Chu pivoted to commemorate the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown (天安門事件), the 1989 violent suppression of pro-democracy protests in Beijing that remains a politically sensitive subject in China. The KMT chairman paid tribute to the student demonstrators who demanded democratic reforms, framing their struggle as part of a broader regional movement for political freedom. Democracy's defenders would stand firm against oppression whether in China's capital, South Korea's presidential palace, or Taiwan's corridors of power, Chu declared, suggesting a common cause among democratic advocates across East Asia.
Turning to domestic matters, Chu called on the Executive Yuan (行政院), Taiwan's cabinet, to reconsider its recent decision to cancel general grants (一般性補助款) to local governments, a move that has sparked controversy across the island. The opposition leader accused President Lai Ching-te's Democratic Progressive Party administration of deliberately manufacturing political divisions ahead of upcoming elections. Such financial maneuvers designed to punish opposition-controlled municipalities represented cynical political calculation rather than responsible governance, according to Chu, who portrayed his party as defending local interests against central government overreach. ◼