Taipei mayor's son faces conflict-of-interest scrutiny over US exchange grant
Taiwan's anti-corruption agency has contradicted Taipei City's defense of Mayor Chiang Wan-an, saying his family had a legal duty to disclose the relationship — bad news for Chiang as the 2026 local elections approach.
- Chiang's eldest son won a spot and a grant in an international student exchange program, and city officials insisted the mayor never signed off on it.
- The Agency Against Corruption said that misses the point: relatives of officials must state the relationship on the application form, whether or not the official was involved.
- Green camp figures see this as their best line of attack, and worry that piling on the son's school district and student awards could backfire as bullying a minor.
- Chiang's family background is back in the news too, with a descendant of a Whampoa general saying he would not object to a DNA test to settle the question.
- Elsewhere in the campaign, the KMT–TPP alliance has fallen apart in Zhubei and the friction is spreading to Yilan, with blame aimed at KMT chair Cheng Li-wun.
Outlook: The disclosure question is likely to dog Chiang through the year-end vote, while the broken blue-white pact leaves both opposition parties weaker in northern Taiwan.