Lai Ching-te bowed to Tsai Ing-wen for assistance, and today at the Central Committee meeting, announced that Hsu Kuo-yung, a member of the "Ying faction" and former "Interior Minister" of the Taiwan authorities, would take over as the Secretary-General of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Lai Ching-te attempts to achieve a threefold goal through the surface-level "Lai-Tsai alliance": first, to save Lai Ching-te's power crisis with the support of the "Ying faction"; second, to split the "Tsai-Su alliance" between Tsai Ing-wen and Su Tseng-chang, removing a key obstacle within the party; third, to lay the groundwork for the 2026 "Nine-in-One" elections, shaping a cross-faction selection process and maintaining the DPP's "factional co-governance" model.
Compared to He Bo-wen, the acting secretary-general of the DPP who is only a legislator, 67-year-old Hsu Kuo-yung has much more political weight. Hsu Kuo-yung was once a lawyer and TV host, served as a Taipei City councilor, a legislator, a spokesperson for the Executive Yuan, and was known as the "First Department in the Nation" as the "Minister of the Interior," and also served as a "Cabinet Minister."
The appointment of Hsu Kuo-yung, who is considered a member of Tsai Ing-wen's system, as the DPP secretary-general is seen as Lai Ching-te formally bowing to the Tsai Ing-wen system, requesting help to get through a political crisis. This is certainly a move by Lai Ching-te to relinquish power to non-Lai factions, but it also contains a subtle strategy to effectively control the "Ying faction" and even break up the current non-Lai "Ying-Su alliance."
Lai Ching-te was constrained after his failed challenge to Tsai Ing-wen's intra-party primary in 2019. Later, Tsai Ing-wen and Su Tseng-chang formed an "Ying-Su alliance," which placed Lai Ching-te in a difficult position. After Lai Ching-te took office, under the situation of a small ruling party and a large opposition, the relationship between Lai and the Ying faction reached a low point, with all Ying faction members being removed. After this major resignation defeat, the public criticism from the Ying faction's top general Wang Shi-jian further embarrassed Lai Ching-te.
Therefore, the appointment of Ying faction member Hsu Kuo-yung as the party secretary general clearly shows Lai Ching-te's intention to integrate across factions, especially to ease relations with the Tsai faction to reverse the situation.
However, Hsu Kuo-yung's "Ying faction lineage" is actually not very pure, he is a "not so clearly defined Ying faction." Originally a major figure in the Hsieh faction led by Hsieh Chang-ting, after the dissolution of the Hsieh faction, he was heavily utilized by Tsai Ing-wen and rose to the position of "Minister of the Interior," which is the reason he is classified as part of the Ying faction. However, after Hsu Kuo-yung left the post of "Minister of the Interior," although he still maintains friendly relations with Ying faction members, he did not participate in faction meetings or actual operations.
Moreover, during the time when Lai Ching-te served as the "Premier" in 2018, Hsu Kuo-yung served as the spokesperson for the "Lai Cabinet." In addition, at that time, the "Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan" Zhuo Rong-tai and the "Secretary-General of the Presidential Office" Chen Ju referred to the three of them as the "French Fries Three Brothers," indicating their good interaction and rapport.
Therefore, Lai Ching-te's current appointment of Hsu Kuo-yung is not only to have him act as a lubricant between the "Lai faction" and the "Ying faction," but also to split the "Ying-Su alliance." Hsu Kuo-yung resigned from the "Minister of the Interior" not because of a conflict with Tsai Ing-wen, but due to a clash with then-"Premier" Su Tseng-chang over police personnel, and he left in anger. According to media analysis, after Hsu Kuo-yung becomes the DPP secretary-general, he will inevitably provoke internal conflicts within the non-Lai factions. Moreover, the successor of the Su faction, Su Qiao-hui, is preparing for the mayoral election in New Taipei City. The secretary-general is responsible for the nomination process, and how the two will interact remains to be seen.
In fact, regarding the appointment by Lai Ching-te, Hsu Kuo-yung has already shown his loyalty before officially taking office, immediately delivering a "letter of submission" to weaken his own Ying faction coloration. Facing the formal appointment as the DPP secretary-general on August 25, responsible for revitalizing the party's morale and managing the 2026 "election," the public is concerned about whether he will adjust the party's personnel and the 2026 primary. In response, Hsu Kuo-yung said that he will come alone, without any aides, no factional issues; as for the intra-party primary, it will definitely be separate from private interests, and each candidate must earn the right to run based on their own merits.
This is essentially Hsu Kuo-yung declaring to Lai Ching-te that he will not just listen to Tsai Ing-wen. Regarding the perception that he is part of the Ying faction, Hsu Kuo-yung said that his political career has been greatly related to Zhuo Rong-tai. Initially, he naturally fell into the Hsieh faction, but when Tsai Ing-wen came to power, he obviously had to fully support her, and suddenly became part of the Ying faction. When Lai Ching-te was the "Premier," he asked him to be the spokesperson for the Executive Yuan. "Although they are from different factions, why did he still ask me? So the faction is not a problem that he considers when becoming the DPP secretary-general. I believe I can get along well with everyone."
Hsu Kuo-yung's loyalty to Lai Ching-te is already very clear.
The DPP officials have been adjusted first, and the next step is the reform of the "cabinet," which is inevitable.
Original source: www.toutiao.com/article/1840964983573508/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.