Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) yesterday announced that he would run for Taichung mayor in the 2018 local elections after resigning from his post as the party’s Taichung branch director, while other local election hopefuls also responded to rumors about their interest by throwing their hat into the ring.
In response to Tsai’s move, Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said that he welcomed anyone to join the race, adding that his only priority is running a good municipal government that satisfies the will of the people.
Lin said although he is only halfway through his four-year term, he has already begun to see positive changes in the municipality as a result of his administration, adding that he welcomes the addition of another contender for the office to give the public more choice.
Many had speculated that Lin would be competing with KMT caucus secretary-general Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) in the Taichung mayoral election.
“The voters just want what is best for Taichung’s future. Whatever the public wishes for I will stand together with them,” Chiang said.
Chiang said that his priority at the moment is to fulfill his duties as a lawmaker and to serve the best interests of his voters, adding that he welcomes Tsai’s participation in the 2018 election and is grateful for his work in the Taichung chapter at a difficult time for the party.
Meanwhile, Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) told reporters he has no preference as to who would be the next mayor of the municipality, adding that he would maintain his neutrality during the election because it is up to Tainan residents to decide which candidate they want to lead them.
“A mayor is here to serve the public. The elections are decided by the public, not the mayor,” Lai said.
There is no such thing as a “successor” in a democratic society, Lai said, adding that “doing a good job and assisting the efforts of the city government” are the most important attributes for the role.
In response to rumors that Lai and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) could enter the Cabinet, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said during an inspection of a historical and cultural scenery project launched by the Changhua County Government: “Who said that personnel changes are to be made at the end of the year?”
He said that although he is open to proposals of personnel changes at any time, there are no such plans at present.
In the north, New Power Party (NPP) Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), who is reportedly interested in running for New Taipei City mayor, yesterday said he has yet to give the matter any thought.
The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that New Taipei City could have two pan-green candidates in the 2018 local election, one each from the NPP and the Democratic Progressive Party.
There have been rumors that Huang has wanted to run for New Taipei City mayor since leading the Sunflower movement in 2014.
Huang said such rumors are not new, adding: “I won’t ‘dance’ whenever a political rumor appears.”
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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