The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday selected Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) as the party’s candidate for November’s mayoral election in Taipei.
At the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting in Taipei, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) announced the selection of the 43-year-old lawmaker, who Chu described as a rising star.
Chiang’s legislative experience and solid academic background would bring about “a new chapter” for the capital’s 2.51 million residents, Chu said.
Photo: CNA
Chiang later told reporters that he would do his best to garner the support of Taipei’s voters and that he was “confident” about winning.
The candidate highlighted issues that Taipei has grappled with, including a declining population and stalled development.
Chiang criticized the government for what he described as an inadequate response to COVID-19, which he said had hit Taipei harder than other parts of the nation.
Without providing specifics, Chiang said he would use innovative, sustainable and technological means to make Taipei a progressive and global city.
Chiang, who previously worked as a corporate lawyer in the US, returned to Taiwan in 2013 and has been a legislator since 2016.
Chiang is the son of former KMT vice chairman John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), and purported great-grandson of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
John Chiang in 2005 changed his surname from Chang (章) to Chiang, and his family followed suit.
After graduating from National Chengchi University with a dual bachelor’s degree in diplomacy and law, Chiang Wan-an obtained a Juris Doctor in 2006 from the University of Pennsylvania.
Other parties have yet to announce their candidates for Taipei’s mayoral election, which is to take place on Nov. 26.
Media reports have over the past few months named Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) of the DPP, and Deputy Taipei Mayor Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) of the People First Party as potential challengers to Chiang Wan-an.
The KMT also announced the selection of former legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) and Legislator Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) as the party’s candidates for Keelung mayor and Nantou County commissioner respectively.
AGGRESSION: China’s latest intrusions set a new benchmark for its ‘gray zone’ tactics and possibly a new pattern that it would attempt to normalize, a researcher said China’s latest military exercises represent a new challenge to Taiwan’s legal authority to demarcate its borders in the Taiwan Strait, a defense expert said, adding that the fleets in the latest exercises were likely the most powerful the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ever assembled. The PLA conducted military exercises from Sunday last week to 6am on Friday, which encompassed large swathes of the western Pacific, including the Taiwan Strait and waters off the Philippines and Guam, National Policy Foundation associate research fellow Chieh Chung (揭仲) said on Friday. The Ministry of National Defense said that it detected 70 warship and 162 aircraft
DOMESTIC MARKET: To protect the livelihoods of local egg farmers, the government adopted a new method for releasing imported eggs, the agriculture minister said More than 54 million imported eggs will be disposed, as their expiration date has passed, Minister of Agriculture Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said yesterday. Chen made the remarks at a news conference in Taipei, explaining the flow of imported eggs following recent controversies regarding the products. The ministry introduced a special egg import program to address a nationwide egg shortage earlier this year. However, controversies have risen in recent weeks. These included an accusation that the government helped some egg importing companies over others, eggs imported from Brazil that had an incorrect expiration date, and egg shipments from Brazil that were found
PACIFIC OCEAN: Defense experts have warned that the ‘Shandong,’ China’s second largest aircraft carrier, poses a serious threat to eastern Taiwan’s defenses The drills conducted by the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong in the Western Pacific last week were more aimed at showcasing China’s military capabilities to the US rather than toward Taiwan, a Taiwanese defense expert said yesterday. Lin Yin-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said the drills which involved dozens of warplanes sought to test China’s anti-access and area denial capabilities should the US and its allies attempt to interfere in a cross-strait conflict. Lin said that the latest Chinese drills coincided with a joint maritime exercise conducted by the US, South Korea
Thousands of bottles of Sriracha have been returned or destroyed after the discovery of excessive sulfur dioxide, a bleaching agent, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Tuesday. About 12,600 bottles totaling 9,991.8kg of the hot sauce imported from the US by Emporium Corp (河洛企業) were flagged at the border for containing illegal levels of sulfur dioxide, the FDA said in its regular border inspection announcement. Inspectors discovered 0.5g per kilogram of the common bleaching agent and preservative, higher than the 0.03g permitted, it said. As it is the first time within six months the product has been flagged, Sriracha products from
RSS