After a ballot count that lasted nearly 10 hours, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je was confirmed as the winner — by a small margin — of the Taipei mayoral election at 2:35am yesterday.
Ko was re-elected for a second term after receiving 580,820 votes, beating Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Ting Shou-chung’s (丁守中) 577,566 by 3,254.
Polling stations finished counting at 2:35am and at 2:40am Ko was on stage at Four Four South Village in Xinyi District (信義), where his supporters had been waiting for hours.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Supporters shouted: “Taipei chose Ko!”
Ko responded: “I am back.”
“I have nothing but gratitude,” Ko told a news conference at 3:20am.
“I was without support from any political party or corporation. All I had was the support of members of the public,” he said.
“It is because of you that there is now an opportunity for Taiwan’s political scene to be something different. You are the makers of Taiwan’s history,” he told supporters.
The election has established reform as the way forward for politics, he said.
“Change has happened and there is no going back from reforms now,” he said.
He called the result “a victory of democracy” and thanked voters for supporting a new political culture based on pragmatism, communication, public transparency and a more disciplined approach to government finances.
If change can happen in Taipei, it can happen elsewhere, he said.
He thanked his opponents for their constructive criticism and said he would hold himself to higher standards.
He also thanked his campaign team — which he said was “the youngest in history.”
“We are a team. Regardless of where you are heading, this memory ... would will always be with you, along with my gratitude and sincere wishes,” he said.
He then called for solidarity across generations and party lines, saying: “With the election over, I sincerely hope that all prejudices would also come to an end, regardless of who you support and which generation you belong to.”
Asked whether he would complete his second term or run for president in 2020, Ko said his answer has not changed after a year of being asked the question.
“There is no such plan. Why does the rumor keep spreading?” he said.
When asked if he would amend his relationship with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) following its defeats in the nine-in-one elections, Ko said his relationship with the party has seen “little change” in four years.
In the five-way race, Pasuya Yao (姚文智) of the DPP received 244,641 votes, independent Li Hsi-kun (李錫錕) got 6,172 votes and independent Wu E-yang (吳萼洋) got 5,617 votes.
Additional reporting by Huang Chien-hao
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS