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.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
RSS