Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said he might have the weakest election campaign team, as he does not have the support of a political party, but added that his team still has 10 days before the nine-in-one elections to bring out the best result.
Ko, an independent seeking re-election, took leave from his post as Taipei mayor on Thursday last week to focus on his re-election campaign in the run-up to the Nov. 24 vote.
In response to media queries about his thoughts after canvassing support over the past few days, Ko said: “We are doing our best,” adding that he has visited several traditional markets, night markets and given speeches at companies from 7am to 10pm nearly every day.
 
                    Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
“Frankly speaking, it is very difficult for independent candidates to run in an election, because there are still some basic techniques required to run a campaign,” he said, adding that having the support of a political party could increase a candidate’s votes by at least 5 percent.
“Our election campaign team could be called the weakest campaign team ever or might not even qualify as a campaign team, because they are mostly young people recruited through an audition and we do not have specialists to help with promotional broadcasts,” he said.
Ko said he learned about “plate theory” from a survey analyst who used “plates” as a metaphor for supporters of different camps.
He has been thinking about why the plates have significantly shifted since 2014, Ko said, adding that he thinks it was because Taiwanese often vote for a political party not because they like it, but because they hate the rival party.
“However, they often regret after voting, because other than their stances on unification or independence and a few ideologies, the two major parties are very similar,” he said, referring to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
“Taiwan’s political scene has been overshadowed by the debate over unification or independence for about two decades, but I think it is a non-issue,” Ko said.
“It is impossible for the US to allow Taiwan to unify with China; it will try to avoid it, but the US will also not allow Taiwan to declare independence and infuriate China, so the debate is actually a pseudo-issue about fake unification and fake independence,” he said.
However, he added that although it is a pseudo-issue, it has real effects on the nation’s politics, such as the controversy over his campaign director Hsiao Yeh (小野) appearing in a video promoting DPP Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), which Ko said triggered nerves in the pan-blue and pan-green camps, and shifted the “plates.”
When asked if he regrets having the “weakest campaign team,” Ko said he does not, because he wants to give young people an opportunity to be innovative.
He was nervous about letting a team of young people mostly under 35 organize the opening ceremony of last year’s Taipei Summer Universiade, “but they did an outstanding job,” Ko said.

The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading

The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,

COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,