2026 ELECTIONS/Taipei Mayor Chiang agrees to at least one televised debate with Shen

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) has agreed to hold at least one televised debate with his challenger, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), after weeks of questions over the issue.

Reporters had repeatedly questioned Chiang, a member of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), for weeks over his willingness to debate Shen, but Chiang had consistently declined to respond.

On Monday, he finally agreed to participate in one televised debate, saying this was "per usual practice in Taipei mayoral races."

Meanwhile, Shen said "The more debates, the better" during a radio interview that same day.

Asked about the issue Tuesday, Chiang said he hoped the two camps could settle on a date for the first debate soon, adding that he would be open to holding a second, and possibly a third, debate.

Later in the day, Shen said he would be available to debate Chiang on Oct. 24, Oct. 31 and Nov. 7, and called on Chiang's campaign to confirm their candidate's availability.

The two campaigns agreed Monday to have TV broadcasters TVBS and SET TV jointly host the first debate, which will include a section in which the two candidates respond to each other's initial statement and answer questions. In addition, the Chinese-language Liberty Times, CTV, TTV, FTV, CTS and Mnews have invited the two to attend a second televised debate jointly hosted by them.

Turning to Taichung, Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純), the DPP candidate for mayor, said Tuesday she had agreed to three televised debates jointly hosted by five media outlets.

Meanwhile, her rival Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) issued a statement through his campaign that he was "open" to holding debates, adding that he would inform voters of his decision following internal discussions.