Taiwan elections: could rising KMT star Wayne Chiang be a presidential contender?

The 43-year-old great-grandson of late leader Chiang Kai-shek won Taipei’s mayoral race, sweeping aside veteran opponents

But despite political pedigree, analysts says Chiang will need more seasoning before attempting a presidential run

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The 43-year-old great-grandson of late leader Chiang Kai-shek, Wayne Chiang Wan-an, won Taipei’s mayoral race, sweeping aside veteran opponents on Saturday, as voters focused on other pressing issues such as air pollution and bad traffic. Photo: AP

Published: 7:01pm, 28 Nov 2022

“Everyone, we did it,” an emotional Wayne Chiang Wan-an told a cheering crowd on Saturday after he declared victory in the Taipei mayoral election, an achievement that observers said had consolidated his status as a rising political star.

Chiang, a great-grandson of Taiwan’s late leader Chiang Kai-shek, handed the century-old main opposition Kuomintang party the election prize by winning back the capital city eight years after outgoing mayor Ko Wen-je, of the smaller Taiwan People’s Party, took over the city government in 2014.

In one of several local elections held on Saturday, Chiang defeated two formidable opponents – former health minister Chen Shih-chung of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, and Huang Shan-shan, Taipei’s deputy mayor, who ran as an independent.

The 43-year-old former legislator captured more than 575,000 votes, beating Chen’s 434,000 and Huang, who had 342,000 votes, by comfortable margins. He also won all but one of the 12 constituent districts, according to results released by the Central Election Commission.

“The victory belongs to every citizen of Taipei. It is a victory for light over darkness and for good over evil,” said Chiang, who will become Taipei’s youngest ever mayor.

The pandemic may have played a major role in Chiang’s election success. Chen, his closest rival, had been the head of the Central Epidemic Command Centre before joining the Taipei race. But analysts said voters disapproved of Chen’s anti-Covid-19 policy.