TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Kuomintang (KMT) launched a “succession plan” to attract Taiwan’s youth to the party on Thursday (Sept. 5) in the hope of shaking off its reputation of being old and conservative.

KMT Chair Eric Chu (朱立倫) said the party hopes to hire more young people, per UDN. He added the party has already begun taking measures to make the party younger, including opening a representative office in the US.

Chu said the new youth-oriented campaign involves a website that will provide access to internships, free online training, opportunities for international visits, and other offerings. He added that beginning next year the KMT will increase its budget for local assistants, and increase the number of people it employs in these roles.

According to the KMT’s figures published in a Commonwealth Magazine article in September 2023, the number of under 40 year olds joining the KMT is increasing. The party said that people in this age bracket represent about 40% of its membership.

However, after the election loss in January, former KMT Legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁) told Bloomberg the party’s “narrative on engaging with China is less favored by today’s young voters.” Hsu said the party needs to develop a more convincing narrative that it can be trusted in its interactions with China.

Despite losing the presidency, the KMT remains powerful at the local level, and it narrowly holds the most seats in the legislature with 52 to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's 51. 

"People don’t tend to vote on independence-unification issues in local races, so they are much more willing to vote for the KMT,” Hsu said.