Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) yesterday said he would join the KMT’s primary for next year’s Taipei mayoral election for the fifth time, pledging to make Taipei a proud city again.
Ting, a 63-year-old KMT member who had served seven terms as a legislator since 1990, made the announcement on Facebook, saying he would hold an online candidacy presentation today to deliver to Taipei residents his political ideas and vision for the capital.
Over the past four years, Taipei’s development has stalled to an extent that the global competitiveness of the nation and its capital have been undermined, Ting said.
“We cannot afford to wait another four years,” he said, expressing confidence in his ability to unite the residents of Taipei to return the city to its former glory.
In a depature from the traditional electoral culture, with its emphasis on crowd mobilization, his candidacy representation will only be available online via live streaming to allow his supporters to “share this valuable moment simultaneously.”
Vowing to persevere until he wins the Taipei mayoral seat, Ting said he hoped next year’s local elections would be a competition about experiences, policies and ideas.
With a doctorate in international politics, Ting has tried in vain to secure the KMT’s nomination for the Taipei mayoral seat four times in the past, losing to former Taipei mayor Huang Ta-chou (黃大洲) in 1994, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in 1998, former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) in 2006 and KMT Central Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) in 2014.
Despite his unwavering determination, Ting’s road to win the KMT’s nomination might still be bumpy.
There have been reports that the party is eyeing KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), the 38-year-old grandson of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), as its Taipei mayoral candidate, due to his relatively young age, good looks and prominent family background.
Asked about Ting’s decision, KMT spokesman Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said the party respects any individual member’s decision to announce their candidacy, but it would not necessarily hold primaries for the mayoral seats of the six special municipalities.
“Being able to win the elections is our ultimate goal and our nomination of candidates will revolve around that goal,” Hung said, adding that the nomination process for the Taipei mayoral post is still ongoing and the party would continue to solicit opinions from different sectors of society.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS