Chiang Ching-kuo's grandson, Jiang Wan'an, wants to run for mayor of Taipei and will face the Chiang family issue directly

Source: Global Times

After the Lunar New Year, Taiwan will enter the "nine-in-one election" stage at the end of the year, and various candidates have been eager to try it years ago.

Among them, the Taipei mayoral election campaign has attracted the most attention. According to Taiwan's Zhongshi Electronic News, Kuomintang "legislator" Jiang Wan'an hosted a banquet for the blue camp on the 18th and 19th. The dinner meeting on the 18th focused on discussing Taiwan's political situation and Taipei City's election situation, and also talked about how to face the historical merits of the Chiang family. Jiang Wan'an said that he has ideas for the future planning of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and will face the issue of the Chiang family. He also revealed that he will announce his candidacy for mayor of Taipei after the Lunar New Year and after the nomination method of the KMT Central Committee is clear. At that time, in addition to announcing the structure of the campaign team and the spokesperson team, he will respond positively to the Jiang family issue. On the 19th, many reporters asked "Did you announce your candidacy after the year?" Jiang Wan'an only low-key said that there was indeed a meal, "the conversation was very pleasant, and everyone gave a lot of suggestions and opinions."

This year's "nine-in-one election" will be held on November 26, which is Tsai Ing-wen's first taiwan-wide election since her re-election on May 20, 2020, and is not only a midterm examination for Tsai Ing-wen's second term, but also considered an outpost of the 2024 "general election". The election will elect a new "municipality" mayor, a "municipality directly under the central government" councilor, a captain, a mountain aboriginal district chief and a representative of the district people; and a new county mayor, county and city councilor, township mayor, township citizen representative, village chief and li chief in Taiwan (11 counties and 3 cities).

On the 19th, the DPP held a meeting, but did not discuss the nomination of county mayors. At the meeting, it was agreed that the Central Executive Committee was expected to approve the nomination of "municipality directly under the central government" and county and city councilors on March 2, and conduct a national survey from April 6 to May 31. On the same day, the Standing Committee of the Kuomintang Central Committee suggested at the Central Standing Committee that it hoped that there would not be too many primary election splits in 2022, and that the nomination power should be concentrated as much as possible and coordinated by the Party Central Committee. Party chairman Zhu Lilun said that the KMT cannot withstand these twists and turns in the primary election, and the nomination committee will try to concentrate its firepower to support the strongest general in each county and city in the next year.

In addition to internal coordination, the kmt's relationship with the People's Party has also received attention. The results of the latest popularity polls of political figures released by TVBS TV show that Hou Youyi, the mayor of New Taipei who is a member of the Kuomintang, still has 70% satisfaction and is once again in the top spot, with Taipei Mayor Ko Wenzhe ranking third. Huang Weihan, a media person on the island, said on the 18th that Ke Wenzhe's satisfaction with the ethnic group over 40 years old has increased significantly, and the satisfaction of KmT supporters has increased by 22%, and "the People's Party is eating the votes of the Kuomintang."

It is understood that in addition to Jiang Wan'an's willingness to take the position of mayor of Taipei, the current vice mayor of Taipei City, Huang Shanshan,détente is also very clear. Hao Longbin, former mayor of Taipei and former vice chairman of the Kuomintang, said on the 19th that if the People's Party pushes Huang Shanshan to run, as long as Huang gets 15%-18% of the vote, Jiang Wan'an's situation will be very dangerous, "The final result may be both losers and the DPP will win." He suggested that the KMT should talk about cooperation with the People's Party.

At the end of last year, the KMT suffered consecutive defeats in the "four major referendums," the "legislator" by-election in taichung City's second constituency, and the recall of Lin Changzuo in Taipei City's fifth constituency. Taiwan's "Lianhe Pao" published an editorial on the 19th saying that the Tsai authorities' pursuit and killing of the Blue Camp has intensified. The struggle to liquidate the Yan family in Taichung was directed at Taichung Mayor Lu Xiuyan; the Yilan District Prosecutor's Office led the ICAC to search in more than 30 routes, listing county magistrate Lin Zimiao as a defendant, "The Tsai government launched a throat-cutting war against the Blue Camp, making the Kuomintang even worse." It can be seen that if political parties cannot fight together, the election campaign at the end of the year will inevitably be beaten all the way and morale will collapse. In other words, in addition to appealing to the unity of local county and city chiefs, the KMT must also combine various forces to "unite against the DPP's hegemony in the name of 'rescuing justice', so as to arouse the awakening and support of the voters."