By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
It is time to sever the entanglement between Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) family and the public because the nation needs to move forward instead of dwelling on the past, National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
Ko, who is the director of the hospital’s Department of Traumatology and a potential aspirant for next year’s Taipei mayoral election, made the comment in response to media queries about the recent controversy involving Chiang’s great-grandson, Andrew Chiang (蔣友青).
Andrew Chiang was released on bail on Friday after being detained over accusations that he made threats against the Taipei American School.
While the incident has been extensively covered by local media and again brought the family into the limelight, “[Andrew] is the fourth generation of the Chiang family and I don’t see any connection between him and the first generation,” Ko said.
Ko declined to comment on Andrew Chiang’s mental health, saying that would be an issue for professional medical experts to determine, and urged the public to be tolerant and let the Chiangs deal with their issues privately.
Although Ko’s grandfather was a victim of the crackdown that ensued after the 228 Massacre and jailed as a political prisoner, the physician declined to bash Chiang Kai-shek or other family members for their roles in the incident.
Turning to the possibility of his running for Taipei mayor, Ko told a symposium that if elected, he would improve the city’s “software,” which is more important than building “hardware.”
The key for the city’s well-being is to install a new system of management and promote unconventional ideas that will break the norm and ensure the public’s needs are always the No. 1 priority, he said.