Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) declared his intention to run for Taipei mayor during a visit to the mausoleum of his father, late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), yesterday.
While visiting the former president's mausoleum in Touliao (
"As a former foreign minister and a lawmaker who is dedicated to cross-strait issues, I have decided to run in the race, and listen to the voice of the people," he said, adding that he will make a formal announcement after the Lunar New Year.
Asked to comment on his potential rival in the election, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Soong also paid their respects to the late president yesterday.
While a tearful Ma, who served as Chiang Ching-kuo's English translator, pledged to carry out the late Chiang's wish to be a politician with integrity, Soong called himself a follower of Chiang Ching-kuo, who Soong said was a tireless servant of the people in Taiwan during his term as the governor of Taiwan Province.
Soong declined to comment on John Chiang's announcement.
Faced with the difficulty of finding the perfect candidate for the KMT and even a possible pan-blue split, should Soong decided to run for Taipei mayor, Ma said yesterday that pan-blue integration is crucial if the camp is to win the race over the pan-greens. He declined to comment on Soong's possible candidacy.
"We've learned from many previous elections that pan-blue integration is key if we want to win ? But I do not want to make any comment on candidates representing other parties," he said yesterday during a gathering with the press at the city hall.
Saying that his party will choose a final candidate through primaries, Ma said it would be "improper" for him to persuade the former deputy mayor Ou Chin-der (
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,
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
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Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
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