Chiang Wan-an rushes to follow suit after Puma Shen sits with KMT veteran｜Formosa English News

Bilingual text here: https://english.ftvnews.com.tw/news/2026B06W04EA?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description 雙語文字版: https://english.ftvnews.com.tw/news/2026B06W04EA?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description Our official website: ➔ https://english.ftvnews.com.tw/ Follow us on Facebook: ➔ https://www.facebook.com/ftvformosanews X (Twitter): ➔ https://x.com/FTV_Taiwan_News With Taipei’s mayoral race heating up, a cross-party visit is now sparking a political tug-of-war. DPP candidate Puma Shen visited former Taipei City Council Speaker Chen Chien-chih on Thursday to seek advice on governing across party lines. But incumbent Mayor Chiang Wan-an quickly followed suit, inviting the veteran KMT heavyweight to his campaign headquarters. The move raised eyebrows, with critics questioning why an 82-year-old political veteran is being asked to make the trip instead of being visited himself. But it seems that the Taipei mayor ultimately listened to the criticism. On Friday afternoon, a former KMT lawmaker posted a photo showing Chiang visiting Chen. Chen Chien-chih (Nov. 5) Former Taipei City Council Speaker (KMT) I was of course really happy that Puma Shen wanted to visit me. We talked about my experience as council speaker, and about how I handled disagreements between the parties. People from all parties and factions have visited me before running for Taipei mayor, including James Soong, Frank Hsieh and Su Tseng-chang. I gladly welcomed them all. On Thursday, DPP’s mayoral candidate for Taipei, Puma Shen paid a visit to former Taipei Council Speaker Chen Chien-chih of the KMT, which was seen by some as an attempt to win over Chiang Wan-an’s core supporter base. Chiang immediately responded by announcing Chen had been invited to visit his campaign headquarters next Thursday. Puma Shen Taipei Mayoral Candidate (DPP) I think they completely misunderstood the point of the visits. Former Speaker Chen and I are from different parties. But if I end up governing, my administration will have to engage with the other party. So it’s a must to learn how to handle these sorts of discussions from someone who was council speaker for so long. Chen Chien-chih (Nov. 5) Former Taipei City Council Speaker (KMT) I am 82 years old already. The fact that he still thinks highly of me, and that he doesn’t think I’m too old is something that made me extremely happy. Kang Jen-chun Veteran commentator It’s not so much that Shen is trying to make a breakthrough. I think he is just very interested in getting advice. It’s something he has very strong ideas about. He’s also shown everyone that he doesn’t want to live inside his own echo chamber. Chen is a KMT heavyweight. Commentators say that, having seen Shen scoring points with his party, Chiang is now rushing to catch up. But it seems he’s forgotten the proper way to do things. Instead of going out to visit Chen, Chiang has invited the octogenarian to visit his campaign quarters instead. What’s worse is that Chiang won’t be present himself. Instead, campaign director Lu Shiow-yen will be the one to meet Chen. It’s not sitting well with some. Chuang Jui-hsiung DPP Legislative Caucus It’s bizarre. If you want to get advice from an elder or ask them for something, you should be the one going to visit them. Chiang maybe was afraid that if he visited Chen, people would once again say that he’s being a copycat. So to avoid that, he flipped it around and asked former Speaker Chen to visit his campaign headquarters instead. The criticism over Chiang’s visiting etiquette clearly pushed some buttons as former KMT lawmaker Apollo Chen posted a photo on social media showing that Chiang had gone out of his way to actually visit Chen on Friday afternoon. For more Taiwan news, tune in: Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152 Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53 #taipei #politics #pumashen #蔣萬安 #elections #台灣新聞 #FormosaEnglishNews #民視新聞 #FTV新聞 #Taiwan