The legislative by-election in Taipei’s third electoral district takes place today. Enoch Wu (吳怡農) is the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate, while Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) is contesting the seat for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Wu was born in the US, obtained a degree in economics from Yale University and was an executive director for investment banking company Goldman Sachs, earning an eight-figure salary.
At the age of 32, with a sense of responsibility for his homeland, he gave up his US citizenship and lucrative job, and returned to Taiwan.
After fulfilling his military duty, he enlisted in the army’s Special Forces Command, a unit that most people would do anything to avoid.
Wang began her career as a journalist, joining the New Party in 2006 and then the KMT in 2013 to run in Taipei City Council elections four times.
In 2018, she was elected to the city council in Taipei’s third electoral district with the most votes of any candidate, and she was re-elected with the second-most votes in the same district in November last year. She possesses a nationwide profile in addition to her formidable political skills.
As both Wang and Wu are capable and experienced, voters might struggle to decide who to vote for. I have a proposal for those who have difficulty choosing: Vote for Wu so that Wang can return to the city council and fulfill her pledge to the people in her electoral district.
In this way, both candidates can serve the public. By voting for Wang, a valuable Yale graduate and special forces recruit could be lost from public service.
By voting for Wu, Taipei residents can have their cake and eat it too, and ensure that both politicians can attend to their welfare.
Liu Ying is a physician.
Translated by Rita Wang
Congratulations to China’s working class — they have officially entered the “Livestock Feed 2.0” era. While others are still researching how to achieve healthy and balanced diets, China has already evolved to the point where it does not matter whether you are actually eating food, as long as you can swallow it. There is no need for cooking, chewing or making decisions — just tear open a package, add some hot water and in a short three minutes you have something that can keep you alive for at least another six hours. This is not science fiction — it is reality.
A foreign colleague of mine asked me recently, “What is a safe distance from potential People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force’s (PLARF) Taiwan targets?” This article will answer this question and help people living in Taiwan have a deeper understanding of the threat. Why is it important to understand PLA/PLARF targeting strategy? According to RAND analysis, the PLA’s “systems destruction warfare” focuses on crippling an adversary’s operational system by targeting its networks, especially leadership, command and control (C2) nodes, sensors, and information hubs. Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, noted in his 15 May 2025 Sedona Forum keynote speech that, as
In a world increasingly defined by unpredictability, two actors stand out as islands of stability: Europe and Taiwan. One, a sprawling union of democracies, but under immense pressure, grappling with a geopolitical reality it was not originally designed for. The other, a vibrant, resilient democracy thriving as a technological global leader, but living under a growing existential threat. In response to rising uncertainties, they are both seeking resilience and learning to better position themselves. It is now time they recognize each other not just as partners of convenience, but as strategic and indispensable lifelines. The US, long seen as the anchor
Kinmen County’s political geography is provocative in and of itself. A pair of islets running up abreast the Chinese mainland, just 20 minutes by ferry from the Chinese city of Xiamen, Kinmen remains under the Taiwanese government’s control, after China’s failed invasion attempt in 1949. The provocative nature of Kinmen’s existence, along with the Matsu Islands off the coast of China’s Fuzhou City, has led to no shortage of outrageous takes and analyses in foreign media either fearmongering of a Chinese invasion or using these accidents of history to somehow understand Taiwan. Every few months a foreign reporter goes to