Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (???) is scheduled to visit the U.S. in April and meet with officials in Washington D.C. as the party’s official presidential candidate, according to a TPP spokesman on Saturday.

Ko will represent the TPP in the presidential election next year once the party completes its nomination process, but the timetable has not yet been set, TPP spokesman Chou Tai-chu (???) said.

Ko will be introduced as the TPP’s presidential candidate to the U.S. individuals and institutions he intends to visit and Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been informed of this fact and the planned visit, Chou said.

The former Taipei mayor has said on numerous public occasions that he will run for president.

The Central Election Commission said on March 1 that it would announce the date for next year’s presidential and legislative elections on March 10.

Ko is expected to make stops in New York, Boston, Washington D.C, and Houston, visit the Department of State, an academic institution and biomedical companies, Chou said.

Ko also expects to meet with some members of the U.S. Congress, Chou said.

Using memes, the TPP recently in an online video rejected calls for Ko to be the running mate of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. founder Terry Gou (???), who last month also made public his desire to run for presidency next year, making clear that Ko would not accept a Gou-Ko ticket.

As for the TPP’s strategy for the legislative election, to be held at the same time as the presidential election, Chou said that unlike the 2022 nine-in-one local elections, the TPP will field candidates sparingly.

The TPP suffered from making too many nominations in the 2022 elections, putting undue strain on its limited resources, which proved detrimental to campaigning, he said.

The TPP will instruct its five incumbent legislators-at-large to seek reelection through campaigning rather than legislative seats assigned to the TPP based on the proportion of “party votes” it secures, he said.

The TPP expects to soon finalize details surrounding its legislative election nomination process and decide on a date for nominations to be made, he said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel