In a recent interview, United Microelectronics Corp founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠) urged candidates running in the November local elections to clarify their stance on cross-strait issues. Inspired by Tsao’s idea, leaders of several pro-independence groups called on candidates to sign a pledge to “defend Taiwan’s security, fight against aggression, and never surrender in the face of invasion, coercion or threat of a Chinese invasion.”
In response to the pledge, the three main Taipei mayoral candidates — Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and independent candidate Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) — had contrasting attitudes.