Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) “will of course proactively” prepare to run for president after he steps down as mayor later this year, his wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), said yesterday.
Chen, a pediatrician at Taipei City Hospital’s Heping Fuyou Branch, said on Facebook that she has noticed over the past few days that news and political talk shows on TV have been discussing Ko wanting to run for president in 2024.
“I do not know why it has stirred up heated discussion, because my husband has already said many times that he is preparing for it,” she wrote.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“Not running in the [presidential] election would be news, and of course members of his own political party will support him, and his wife is no exception,” she wrote.
Ko won the Taipei mayoral elections in 2014 and 2018 as an independent, and founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) in August 2019.
Chen said Ko had called her in September 2019 to ask her about her thoughts on him running for president in 2020, adding that he eventually decided against it, as he believed that some municipal tasks needed eight years to complete.
“After he steps down from his mayoral post at the end of this year, of course he will proactively prepare to run for president, or what else did you think?” she wrote, adding that running in an election is a citizenship right and whether an individual would get elected is another matter.
TPP Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) has been another staunch supporter of Ko’s presidential aspirations.
“I, Tsai Pi-ru, am now 59 years old, and I ask for nothing for myself. My greatest wish for the remainder of my life is to send Ko Wen-je into the Presidential Office,” she wrote last week in a letter to TPP legislators, in which she invited them to a meeting on Friday to discuss election issues.
“This is why we formed the TPP in the first place. It is our greatest original intention, and this goal has never changed,” she wrote.
“To win [the presidential election] in 2024, [the local election in] 2022 is an important test... It affects chairman Ko’s path to becoming president as well as the future of the TPP in 2024,” said Tsai, who had worked with Ko’s medical team in National Taiwan University Hospital when Ko was director of the Department of Traumatology.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
Speeding and badly maintained roads were the main causes of a school bus accident on a rainy day in Taipei last year that severely injured two people and left 22 with minor injuries, the Taiwan Transportation and Safety Board said. On March 11 last year, a Kang Chiao International School bus overturned inside the Wenshan Tunnel (文山隧道) on the northbound lane of the Xinyi Expressway. The tour bus, owned by Long Lai Co, exceeded the speed limit after entering the tunnel, the board’s investigation found. Sensing that the rear of the vehicle was swaying, the driver attempted to use the service and exhaust