Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said he would not register as an independent candidate in next year’s presidential election, and respects Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) decision not to run, even though the announcement came as a surprise.
Ko has considered running for a long time, but has always said he would make a decision by yesterday, the Central Election Commission’s deadline to register as an independent candidate.
For the past couple of months, Ko has repeatedly expressed his support for Gou and offered to help him collect petition signatures if he decides to run.
Photo: CNA
“I had originally decided to assist [Gou’s] election campaign, but his decision came too suddenly — I am just as shocked as all of you are,” Ko said.
Gou only informed him about his decision shortly before he announced it to the public, Ko said.
He said he respects Gou’s decision and would not view it as an “assault,” but if Gou had made the decision a month ago, there would have been plenty of time for him to prepare his own bid.
Asked whether Gou had approached him about being his running mate, Ko said that he had long ago rejected the proposal, as he would rather run for president himself and knew it would have been difficult to handle his mayoral duties while running for vice president.
Ko also read a prepared three-page statement responding to Gou’s decision in which he said: “I have never said I would run in next year’s presidential election, but the pan-blue and pan-green camps kept seeing me as an imaginary enemy and putting me in their primary opinion polls.”
“Running for president right after being elected mayor is not a situation that should occur in a normal country, as it would affect municipal administration,” he said, adding that if he could change the political culture in Taipei, it could affect the rest of the nation.
Ko said he was anxious when the presidential candidates of the two major parties were decided, as Taiwan is to get bogged down in a battle between pro-unification and pro-independence ideologies, but what the nation really needs is to improve the efficiency, practicality and performance of its governance.
The election is now to be between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, meaning that it is important for the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to win some legislator-at-large seats, so it can become the key minority in the Legislative Yuan, he said.
If the two major parties do not win more than half of the seats in the legislature next year, then TPP legislators could cooperate with both parties to reduce the opposition’s unreasonable opposition and monitor the ruling party’s unscrupulous behavior, Ko said, adding that the TPP would nominate at least 34 candidates for legislator-at-large seats.
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
Tigerair Taiwan and China Airlines (CAL) today announced that several international flights were canceled or rescheduled due to Typhoon Ragasa. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has maintained sea and land warnings for the typhoon. Its storm circle reached the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) on Taiwan's southern tip at 11am today. Tigerair Taiwan said it canceled Monday's IT551/IT552 Taoyuan-Da Nang, IT606/IT607 Taoyuan-Busan and IT602 Taoyuan-Seoul Incheon flights. Tomorrow, cancelations include IT603 Seoul Incheon-Taoyuan, as well as flights between Taoyuan and Sapporo, Osaka, Tokyo Narita, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Saga, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, Asahikawa and Jeju. On Wednesday, the IT321/IT322 Kaohsiung-Macau round-trip would also be canceled. CAL announced that today's
About nine Taiwanese are “disappeared,” detained, or otherwise deprived of freedom of movement in China each month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Between Jan. 1 last year and Aug. 31 this year, 188 Taiwanese travelers went missing, were detained and interrogated, or had their personal freedom restricted, with some questioned in airports or hotel lobbies, the council said. In a statement ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the council urged people visiting China for any reason to be highly vigilant and aware of the risks. Of the reported cases, 50 people were “disappeared” after entering China, 19 were detained and 119 had
RSS