Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) yesterday said he would join the KMT’s primary for next year’s Taipei mayoral election for the fifth time, pledging to make Taipei a proud city again.
Ting, a 63-year-old KMT member who had served seven terms as a legislator since 1990, made the announcement on Facebook, saying he would hold an online candidacy presentation today to deliver to Taipei residents his political ideas and vision for the capital.
Over the past four years, Taipei’s development has stalled to an extent that the global competitiveness of the nation and its capital have been undermined, Ting said.
“We cannot afford to wait another four years,” he said, expressing confidence in his ability to unite the residents of Taipei to return the city to its former glory.
In a depature from the traditional electoral culture, with its emphasis on crowd mobilization, his candidacy representation will only be available online via live streaming to allow his supporters to “share this valuable moment simultaneously.”
Vowing to persevere until he wins the Taipei mayoral seat, Ting said he hoped next year’s local elections would be a competition about experiences, policies and ideas.
With a doctorate in international politics, Ting has tried in vain to secure the KMT’s nomination for the Taipei mayoral seat four times in the past, losing to former Taipei mayor Huang Ta-chou (黃大洲) in 1994, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in 1998, former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) in 2006 and KMT Central Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) in 2014.
Despite his unwavering determination, Ting’s road to win the KMT’s nomination might still be bumpy.
There have been reports that the party is eyeing KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), the 38-year-old grandson of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), as its Taipei mayoral candidate, due to his relatively young age, good looks and prominent family background.
Asked about Ting’s decision, KMT spokesman Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said the party respects any individual member’s decision to announce their candidacy, but it would not necessarily hold primaries for the mayoral seats of the six special municipalities.
“Being able to win the elections is our ultimate goal and our nomination of candidates will revolve around that goal,” Hung said, adding that the nomination process for the Taipei mayoral post is still ongoing and the party would continue to solicit opinions from different sectors of society.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by