The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday selected Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) as the party’s candidate for November’s mayoral election in Taipei.
At the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting in Taipei, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) announced the selection of the 43-year-old lawmaker, who Chu described as a rising star.
Chiang’s legislative experience and solid academic background would bring about “a new chapter” for the capital’s 2.51 million residents, Chu said.
Photo: CNA
Chiang later told reporters that he would do his best to garner the support of Taipei’s voters and that he was “confident” about winning.
The candidate highlighted issues that Taipei has grappled with, including a declining population and stalled development.
Chiang criticized the government for what he described as an inadequate response to COVID-19, which he said had hit Taipei harder than other parts of the nation.
Without providing specifics, Chiang said he would use innovative, sustainable and technological means to make Taipei a progressive and global city.
Chiang, who previously worked as a corporate lawyer in the US, returned to Taiwan in 2013 and has been a legislator since 2016.
Chiang is the son of former KMT vice chairman John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), and purported great-grandson of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
John Chiang in 2005 changed his surname from Chang (章) to Chiang, and his family followed suit.
After graduating from National Chengchi University with a dual bachelor’s degree in diplomacy and law, Chiang Wan-an obtained a Juris Doctor in 2006 from the University of Pennsylvania.
Other parties have yet to announce their candidates for Taipei’s mayoral election, which is to take place on Nov. 26.
Media reports have over the past few months named Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) of the DPP, and Deputy Taipei Mayor Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) of the People First Party as potential challengers to Chiang Wan-an.
The KMT also announced the selection of former legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) and Legislator Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) as the party’s candidates for Keelung mayor and Nantou County commissioner respectively.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
RSS