The beleaguered mayor of Taiwan's third-largest city and China-friendly politician Han Kuo-yu has been ousted in a landslide vote, with 939,090 — or 97.4% — voted in favor of his removal in a referendum held earlier today.

Once the island's rising political star, Han, who was elected as mayor of the southern port city of Kaohsiung in late 2018, has now become Taiwan's first elected official at municipal level being removed from office in a recall vote.

The 939,090 votes for his removal exceeded the 892,545 votes Han got when he was elected as mayor of Kaohsiung in November 2018.

Some 969,259 citizens of Kaohsiung voted today, according to Taiwan’s Central Election Commission. Excluding the 5,118 votes deemed invalid, a mere 25,051 or 2.6% voted against the recall motion.

Around 2.3 million residents of Kaohsiung were eligible to vote in the referendum, according to the city's election commission. To succeed, the recall motion needs at least 25% of the electorate — or 574,996 votes — to support it, and the number of votes in favor must exceed that of those against it.

Soon after the number of votes surpassed the threshold, Han and his cabinet met reporters at the city government office building to thank those who did not participate in the recall vote today.

"To the 1.3 million citizens of Kaohsiung who did not come out and vote today, I would like to thank their support. They cannot accept this recall vote, and some may even consider it an unjust vote, which is why these 1.3 million people chose not to vote [today]," Han said.

The pro-China party Kuomintang (KMT) to which Han belongs earlier appealed to those who support Han not to vote in today's recall vote.

A by-election for the new mayor will be held within three months, according to Taiwan's election laws. Taiwan's central government will assign a deputy mayor to Kaohsiung until Han's successor is elected. Han meanwhile can appeal against the referendum's result and no by-election could be held until the courts hand down a verdict.

Han did not say whether he would file an appeal in his press briefing held around 5:15pm today.

Dissatisfaction with his performance aside, the recall vote against Han's mayorship in the southern city of Kaohsiung is considered a test to China’s influence in Taiwan, as his opponents are using the opportunity to oust pro-China figures from local politics.

China's mouthpiece People's Daily on Friday ran a piece accusing the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration of trying to make political gains by "persecuting" Han in the name of democracy. The article also praises Han's performance as mayor, citing as an example a "more lenient" approach taken by Han's city government in granting relief funds to businesses affected by COVID-19 when compared to regions under DPP leadership.

Han rose to prominence in late 2018 when he took the DPP-stronghold by surprise, becoming the first KMT politician to do so in 20 years. His nationalistic rhetoric coupled with a seemingly down-to-earth demeanor made him particularly popular with the working class.

Just months into his mayorship, however, Han disappointed many who voted for him when he in last October announced he would take three months off from the city government to campaign in the presidential election in January which he ultimately lost by a landslide to the incumbent Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP.

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