Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that he is unpredictable and therefore difficult to deal with, when responding to speculation about whether he would run for president next year.
Ko made the remark while attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the Chenggong traditional market (成功市場) reconstruction project in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) yesterday morning.
He had been asked to comment on a news report which quoted a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) campaign official as saying that the chance of Ko running is diminishing, so the party should not provoke him and rather focus on strategies to beat the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
“The most difficult part when dealing with Ko Wen-je is that he is too difficult to predict,” the Taipei mayor said. “Never try to predict Ko Wen-je.”
Ko asked who the DPP official quoted in the report was.
Upon hearing that the report did not reveal the official’s identity, he said he often reads news reports quoting people such as “someone close to Ko,” “Ko’s personal aide” or “a city government official,” so he does not take them very seriously.
Asked about poll results suggesting that his approval rating is lower than Han’s, but higher than President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文), and that if he did join the race, one-third of Tsai’s supporters might vote for him, Ko said people should not take poll results too seriously.
Ko said he does not really understand what Han meant at the KMT’s National Congress on Sunday when he said: “The next presidential election will be a battle to decide the life or death of the Republic of China.”
He does not like Han’s suggestion that overseas Taiwanese should write complaint letters to their local government officials about Tsai’s administration, because one should provide clear evidence when trying to accuse others, Ko said.
Asked to comment on the protests in Hong Kong, Ko said: “Mainland China should seriously face the issues in Hong Kong, as it is similar to the situation in Taiwan from 2013 to 2014,” apparently referring to the Sunflower movement.
“I’ve been thinking that only a strong Taiwan can provide resources and protection to Hong Kong, so if Taiwan is too weak, mainland China will not have to succumb when dealing with issues in Hong Kong,” he said.
“The process of democratization in Taiwan over the past 30 years could become an inspiration for China,” he said, adding that when a country’s economic development has reached a certain level, it is hard to maintain a divide between economic development and political development.
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
TECH PROGRAM: A US official said that an important part of the delegation’s trip would be to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co executives The US is to send officials in charge of chip development to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to promote cooperation in the global semiconductor supply chain, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. Chips Program Office Director Michael Schmidt announced the visit, which marks the first time officials from the office are to visit the three nations since it was set up in September last year. “As semiconductors and technologies continue to evolve, the United States will keep working with allies and partners to develop coordinated strategies to ensure that malign actors cannot use the latest technologies to undermine our collective
WORKING UP AN APPETITE: Sales at the Rueifong Night Market surged 20 to 30 percent, while seats at Liouhe Night Market were packed until 1am, market officials said South Korean pop band Blackpink’s concerts over the weekend in Kaohsiung helped draw large crowds to local night markets, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. The two concerts on Saturday and Sunday at Kaohsiung National Stadium drew more than 90,000 people. The city government offered NT$50 vouchers to spend locally to concertgoers who showed their ticket stubs. Liouhe Night Market (六合夜市) management committee head Chuang Chi-chang (莊其章) said that crowds over the weekend surged at about 10pm and the market remained packed until 1:30am. “Almost all the seats were filled,” Chuang said. Night market stall owners had stocked up in expectation of an increased number
RSS