Kao Su-po
Kao Su-po is a Taiwanese legal scholar and politician. He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2005 to 2008, and led the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission between 2008 and 2011. He contested the Tainan mayoralty in 2018, losing the office to Huang Wei-cher.
Early life and education
Kao Su-po was born in Zhongxi District, Tainan, on October 31, 1968. His ancestral home is in Jiali. His father, Kao Yu-jen, owned a law firm in his hometown and was the former Taiwan Provincial Assembly speaker and Tainan County commissioner from 1973 to 1976.After the graduating from the Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University, Kao studied law at National Taiwan University, graduating with an LL.B. in 1990. He then pursued doctoral studies in the United States at George Washington University, where he earned a J.D. and his Doctor of Juridical Science in 1998 from the George Washington University Law School. His doctoral dissertation, completed under legal scholar Lawrence E. Mitchell, was titled, "Knowledge and authority: A study of the legitimacy of modern jurisprudence". As a graduate student in Washington, D.C., Kao interned at Capitol Hill.
Academic career
After receiving his doctorate, Kao became an associate professor and the director in the Law Departments at Central Police University and Shih Hsin University respectively.Political career
Kao contested the 2004 legislative elections as a People First Party candidate. He took office in February 2005 and joined the Kuomintang one year later. He was named minister without portfolio and head of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission in May 2008. He resigned from both posts in January 2011.Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission
In February 2010, Kao said that the MTAC was making a policy change from increasing Taiwan's relations with Mongolia and Central Tibetan Administration to promote cross-strait relations. Additionally, he saw a possible merger of MTAC into the Mainland Affairs Council as a way to help MTAC “find a proper place when dealing with Mongolian and Tibetan affairs.”2018 Tainan mayoral elections
Kao ran and won against Huang Hsiu-shuang, former president of the National University of Tainan during the KMT primary elections in May 2018. As the KMT mayoral candidate for Tainan, Kao's campaign addressed three main policy areas: 1) reversing and reimbursing Tainan residents for the increase in housing taxes; 2) making health insurance free for the elderly ages 65 and above and improving public daycare centers; and 3) preserving Tainan's heritage by preventing the demolition of old buildings for the railway expansion. Additionally, Kao sought to revive and expand industries in Tainan, such as reopening China's contract with milk fish farmers in Syuejia District of Tainan and giving local factories access to global markets.Taking TVBS News on a tour of his childhood home on August 21, 2018, Kao explained the importance of family and maintaining the history of the ancient city. When asked by anchor Amber Chien if he agreed with critiques that KMT was outdated and full of old representatives, Kao explained that although there needs to be more youth involvement in the party, the party should not give up the integrity of KMT history and heritage because there is value in it.
The Democratic Progressive Party has been the ruling party for Tainan for over 25 years, garnering a lot of attention for the contending KMT campaign in the municipality. In the Taipei Times, Kao states: "The people of Tainan have grown so accustomed to a DPP mayor that they cannot even imagine what the city could become under a leader from a different party". Therefore, Kao hopes to not only usurp DPP's quarter of a century rule over Tainan, but also provide much needed change to its struggling economy. The DPP candidate for the mayoral election is Huang Wei-cher, a lawmaker who beat five other contenders during DPP's primaries in March 2018.