TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People's Party Chair Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) returned to Taiwan from a trip to the U.S. with his delegation on Friday (April 28), per UDN.
Upon landing at the airport, Ko spoke with local media and announced his intention to collect registration materials for the upcoming presidential primaries. After his registration is complete and he gains party approval, Ko plans to host a press conference to announce his bid on May 20.
After completing two terms as mayor of Taipei, Ko led a delegation to visit the United States from April 8-28, visiting New York, Boston, Washington DC, and Houston.
Ko said he had three purposes for visiting the U.S. The first was to gain a better understanding of the U.S., which is important to Taiwan’s national security as the only country in the world that sells arms to Taiwan.
His second reason was to gain more clarity about what the U.S. expects of Taiwan and how to prepare for the future; and thirdly, introducing the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) as a third-party power to the U.S.
Ko hoped the upcoming presidential election would not descend into partisan politics pitting pan-green or pan-blue parties against each other. He added Taiwan should be united and not divided as the country belongs to everyone, while advocating a coalition-type government to unite Taiwan.
In related news, Foxconn founder and potential KMT presidential candidate Terry Gou (郭台銘) said, "Taiwan government officials can’t enter the White House, or communicate directly with Zhongnanhai (in Beijing). Only I can undertake this communication."
Ko responded to this statement by saying going to the White House and meeting government officials would not necessarily solve the growing China-US conflict.
