Chiang Kai-shek’s great-grandson declared victory in his run for Taipei mayor, as Taiwan held local elections Saturday that could shape the race to replace China-skeptic President, Tsai Ing-wen, in little more than a year.
Chiang Wan-an, the great-grandson of the late Kuomintang leader — who fought and lost a civil war against Mao Zedong’s Communists and is remembered by many Taiwanese for his repression — becomes the youngest person elected to be the mayor of Taipei at age 43.
“Everyone, we did it!” he said in a short speech to a crowd of thousands outside his campaign headquarters.
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate, Chen Shih-chung, had earlier apologized to his supporters at his campaign headquarters. The elections represent the last major test of President Tsai’s DPP before her second and final term as president draws to a close and Taiwan picks a successor in early 2024.
The opposition Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, is hoping that gains in local races would help it mount a comeback after back-to-back defeats in presidential elections in 2016 and 2020. The KMT leads the DPP 50% to 41. 8% across all city and county leadership contests, according to the Central Election Commission, with more than 10 million votes counted. The KMT led in four of six races for mayor of the island’s biggest cities, where some 70% of the population lives. It entered the day with two of the spots.
Chiang Wan-an, the great-grandson of the late Kuomintang leader — who fought and lost a civil war against Mao Zedong’s Communists and is remembered by many Taiwanese for his repression — becomes the youngest person elected to be the mayor of Taipei at age 43.
“Everyone, we did it!” he said in a short speech to a crowd of thousands outside his campaign headquarters.
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate, Chen Shih-chung, had earlier apologized to his supporters at his campaign headquarters. The elections represent the last major test of President Tsai’s DPP before her second and final term as president draws to a close and Taiwan picks a successor in early 2024.
The opposition Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, is hoping that gains in local races would help it mount a comeback after back-to-back defeats in presidential elections in 2016 and 2020. The KMT leads the DPP 50% to 41. 8% across all city and county leadership contests, according to the Central Election Commission, with more than 10 million votes counted. The KMT led in four of six races for mayor of the island’s biggest cities, where some 70% of the population lives. It entered the day with two of the spots.