Ko Wen-je

Ko Wen-je
柯文哲

Ko Wen-je in 2014
23rd Mayor of Taipei
Assumed office
25 December 2014
Deputy Teng Chia-chi, Charles Lin, Chou Li-fang, Chen Chin-jun
Preceded by Hau Lung-pin
Personal details
Born (1959-08-06) 6 August 1959
Hsinchu City, Taiwan
Nationality Taiwan
Political party Independent
Alma mater National Taiwan University
Ko Wen-je
Traditional Chinese 柯文哲

Ko Wen-je (Chinese: 柯文哲; pinyin: Kē Wénzhé; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Koa Bûn-tiat; born 6 August 1959 in Hsinchu City, Taiwan) is the current mayor of Taipei, the capital city of Republic of China.[1] Before becoming the mayor, he was a doctor at the National Taiwan University Hospital. He was also a professor at National Taiwan University College of Medicine and specializes in trauma, intensive care, organ transplant, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and artificial organs among others.[2] Due to his profession, he has been nicknamed Ko P or KP (which stands for Professor Ko, and is how he is customarily referred to within National Taiwan University (NTU). Ko was responsible for standardising organ transplant procedures in Taiwan, and was the first physician to bring ECMO to Taiwan. Apart from his practice, Ko is known for his numerous media appearances and interviews as a social and political commentator.

In 2014 Taipei Mayoral Election, Ko ran as an independent candidate. He beat Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Pasuya Yao in the unofficial primary,[3] gaining support from the DPP and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU). Ko won the election with 853,983 votes to become the first doctoral mayor of the city since the introduction of direct election of the office.

Personal background

Ko's wife, Chen Pei-chi, was born in Penghu, Taiwan.[4] She graduated from Makung Senior High School and NTU's Department of Medicine. She is the director of obstetrics for Taipei City Hospital, Heping Women and Children's Centre. Ko and Chen had an arranged marriage, and have three children: one boy and two girls.[5] It has been known throughout Taiwan that Ko earns less than his wife.

Early life, education and career

Ko Wen-je grew up in a modest household. As the eldest son, his father had aspirations for him to become a doctor. After graduating from Hsinchu Senior High School, he was accepted into the Medical School at NTU.[6][7]

In August 1986, Ko was having enlisted in the 269th mechanized infantry division of the Republic of China Army for his conscription, he was a second lieutenant of combat medic then, and retired in September 1988.

At graduation, Ko placed first nationally on his medical examinations and received his medical licence. On the advice of his professor, Chu Shu-hsun, Ko decided to specialise in surgery and critical care, working on the front lines of the emergency room. After working in emergency for 11 years, Ko travelled to the United States (US) in 1993 and undertook a year of research on artificial livers at the University of Minnesota under Wei-Shou Hu.

After returning to Taiwan in 1994, Ko continued to work in the emergency ward while at the same time beginning his Ph.D. studies at NTU. With an invitation from Chu Shu-hsun, Ko helped found NTU's first organ transplant team with the goal of doing heart transplants. With the hope of increasing the transplant success rate, Ko brought in ECMO technology from the US, and improved transplant success from 19% to 51%. On 30 January 2008, Ko set the world record for keeping a patient alive with ECMO for 117 consecutive days.[8] Using the US treatment standards as a guide, Ko established a set of standards for organ transplant procedures in Taiwan that was later promulgated throughout Taiwan by then the Department of Health.

Ko received his medical doctorate in 2002. Aside from his work improving Taiwanese medical technology in the Republic of China (Taiwan), Ko has since the year 2000 participated in many foreign medical conferences in the mainland communist People's Republic of China (PRC), where he was also responsible for introducing ECMO technology to the mainland communist Chinese on the basis of spreading humanitarian aid to other countries.

On 15 July 2006, Ko wrote an article for the Min Sheng Daily titled "Reflections, Errors, and Apologies: Chao Chien-ming" that received considerable media attention and led to a number of politics-related interviews. On 18 November, Ko used ECMO to save the life of Shao Hsiao-ling, wife of Taichung City Mayor Jason Hu, who fell into a coma after a car accident.[9][10] This incident in particular and the media attention it drew caused Ko Wen-je to become a household name.

In 2010, Ko introduced the American concept of Integrated Care to Taiwan, and established the Integrated Care Unit at NTU Hospital with the aim of reducing treatment cost and improving quality of treatment and quality of life for the attendant doctors and nurses. Ko directed the emergency care team that treated Sean Lien (Lien Sheng-wun) for critical wounds after he was shot on 26 November. Lien recovered quickly which led the media to speculate on the veracity of his story, but Ko quickly came forward to verify his claims.[11]

On 24 August 2011, Ko was held responsible as acting director during a mistaken organ transplant from an AIDS patient and was subsequently punished by NTU and the Department of Health. In 2012, the Control Yuan accused Ko of misconduct for violating organ transplant procedure.

In May 2013, the Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice suspected Ko of involvement in the misappropration of National Science Council funds by creating fraudulent receipts, and asked Ko for an itemised list of payment details. Ko was thus drawn into the Accounting Act Amendment scandal, but the Control Yuan never brought charges. In June, Ko's student Tseng Yue-tsee was hit by a drunk driver and brought to the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital.[12] Ko went to the hospital to direct her treatment himself, but was unable to save her. As a result of this incident, Ko started a foundation for the prevention of drunk driving. In August, Ko was invited by Control Yuan councillor Huang Huang-hsiung to attend a conference in Beijing and to visit Yan'an, Shaanxi Province. Ko became more focused on politics and announced his candidacy for Taipei City Mayor on 6 January 2014.

Political stances

Ko is a long-time member of the Friends of A-bian Club, and provided support from the medical community when Chen Shui-bian was elected as Taipei City Mayor in 1994,[13] as well as during his 2000 Presidential bid where he ultimately took off two weeks of work to support Chen's fundraising efforts.[14] As President, Chen opened the Ketagalan Institute in 2003, but the school was suspended for 3 years starting in 2008 after Chen stepped down and corruption charges were brought against the former President. In November 2012, the school resumed enrollment and Ko enrolled in a month-long course as a student under the guidance of Legislator Gao Jyh-peng, a long-time friend of Chen's.[15][16][17]

On 20 June 2012, Ko organised a small treatment team for Chen Shui-bian whose condition had worsened since his imprisonment, and issued a public statement signed by many prominent individuals in the medical community to demand Chen be released for medical treatment.[18] Ko has made numerous statements expressing his view that Chen should be released for treatment, and has also expressed his view that Chen's prosecution was purely political.[19][20][21][22][23][24]

Ko supported Tsai Ing-wen in her Presidential bid in 2012 and helped fund-raising efforts for her campaign. He is also a permanent member of the Friends of Ying Club.[25] Nevertheless, he has criticized Tsai's proposal for a Taiwan Consensus over lack of clarity.[26]

Ko has mentioned that his strategic goals are the same as those of the DPP.[27] He has expressed his dislike for the KMT on numerous occasions.[28]

2014 Taipei City mayoral election

On the evening of 6 January 2014, Ko announced his candidacy for Taipei City Mayor. On 16 January, he set up his campaign office and began bringing in campaign staff and volunteers.[29][30][31] During a symposium in Kaohsiung, Ko revealed that the accusations of misconduct in the AIDS transplant incident were the main cause of his decision to run for Mayor.[32] After announcing his candidacy, Ko was hesitant about whether or not he should join the DPP and run as the DPP candidate.[33][34][35][36][36][37][38] He ultimately decided to run as an independent, but retain coordination with the DPP.

During the DPP primaries, Ko refused to debate DPP candidates Anette Lu (Lyu Hsiou-Lien) and Koo Lee-hsiung on numerous occasions.[39][40][41][42] A number of "slips of the tongue" made it into the news, for example when Ko said that the "Lawyer Culture" of Taiwan should end, when he criticised Koo Lee-hsiung's Facebook posts grieving over the death of Trong Chai as "too emotional," and when he possibly unintentionally revealed confidential patient information.[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53]

After Pasuya Yao made it through the first round of DPP primaries, Ko agreed to a debate on 12 June and subsequently won the DPP polls.[54][55] On 16 June, the DPP agreed not to put forward a candidate for the election, and to support Ko as representative of the Pan-Green Coalition without forcing Ko to join a party.

On 10 November, Ko announced his intention to reject further monetary donations to his campaign, as the amount received by 31 October exceeded the NT$87 million cap set for Taipei mayoral elections.[56]

Ko's campaign was managed by: Yao Li-ming - general manager, Li Ying-yuan - political platform, Chi Cheng - civic organisations, Chiou Yue-yee - youth organisation ("We Care"). Ko's advisers included Political Science Professor Kuo Cheng-liang; DPP legislator candidate, political activist, and filmmaker Yang Huei-ju; and former DPP secretary Chang Yee-shan. DPP city councillor Chien Yue-yen, neurologist Pan Cheng-chih, and two recruits from youth outreach efforts were the acting spokespeople for the campaign.[57]

Organ harvesting controversy

In October 2014, reports surfaced that according to Ethan Gutmann, an investigative writer who testified before the U.S. Congress on forced organ harvesting, Ko reportedly visited China in 2004 and tried to negotiate good prices for the organs illegally harvested from newly executed Falun Gong practitioners.[58] Ko denied the accusation, and said he told Gutmann that there were some doctors in Taiwan who had been involved in buying or selling organs for transplant, but that he was not one of them. He added that he did not know whether the organs came from Falun Gong practitioners or not, and that he only stated in the interview with Gutmann that the majority of organ sources in mainland China were unclear.[59] Ko's office stated that a recording of a conversation between Gutmann and Ko drastically contradict with details provided by Gutmann. Ko has also designated an attorney to request Gutmann to correct all false allegations in his book. Gutmann responded saying he had not said that Ko was involved in the organ trade and that he might have been intentionally misinterpreted.[60][61]

On 27 November, Ethan Gutmann released a legal response with lawyer Clive Ansley, stating that "no English speaking reviewer of the book has understood page 255 in the way it has apparently been understood in Taiwan by readers whose first language is Chinese", meaning that he has never accused Dr. Ko of being an organ broker. Instead, the readers have praised Ko for his significant contribution to "the international effort to expose the medical crimes which continue to be perpetrated in China." In addition, Gutmann and Ansley state that "the book was peer-reviewed by three expert readers and subjected to a lengthy internal editing process by Prometheus. This review included not only the text itself, but also the author's notes, interview tapes, and electronic communications."[62] In the endnotes of The Slaughter, Gutmann says he gave Ko an advance draft of the section, and that Ko signed off on it, and only a few minor edits were made afterwards.[63] A full explanation, including the actual email correspondence where Ko signed off on the story for publication, was provided by Gutmann in December.[64]

Election result

After the Taipei Mayoral election on 29 November 2014, Ko came out as the winner.[65] He appointed Teng Chia-chi,[66] Charles Lin,[67] and Chou Li-fang[68] as deputy mayors. Chou resigned her post in January 2016 and was replaced by Chen Chin-jun.[69][70]

2014 Taipei City Mayoral Election Result
No. Candidate Party Votes Percentage
1Chen Ju-pin (陳汝斌)Self Help Party1,624 0.11%
2Chao Yen-ching (趙衍慶)Independent15,898 1.06%
3Lee Hung-hsin (李宏信)Independent2,621 0.18%
4Chen Yung-chang (陳永昌)Independent1,908 0.13%
5Peng Kuang-yuan (馮光遠)Independent8,080 0.54%
6Sean Lien KMT609,932 40.82%
7Ko Wen-jeIndependent853,983 57.16%

References

  1. ↑ Independent Is Elected Taipei Mayor as Taiwan’s Governing Party Falters
  2. ↑ Biography at NTUH
  3. ↑ Ko Wen-je wins Taipei opposition polls
  4. ↑ 澎湖是一種血統
  5. ↑ 聽某嘴大富貴！ 柯文哲買到信義線好房
  6. ↑ "白色的力量－柯文哲：我改變不了四季的變化，只能讓其盡善盡美". Ireader.cc. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  7. ↑ {柯文哲 強者不屑說謊話
  8. ↑ 蔣文宜 (2008-01-30). "奇蹟！裝葉克膜達117天成功存活　台大創全球紀錄！". ETtoday. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  9. ↑ 廖盈婷 (2006-11-22). 搶救邵曉鈴／電話「遙控」病情　柯文哲：病情樂觀 (in Chinese). TVBS. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
  10. ↑ 王昶閔 (2010-09-10). 《人物專訪》不看診 不開刀 柯文哲救人無數 (in Chinese). 自由時報. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
  11. ↑ 詹建富 (2010-12-01). 台大主任柯文哲：連勝文槍傷 沒有造假 (in Chinese). 聯合報. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
  12. ↑ "柯文哲心痛：原諒我沒把妳救回來". Archived from the original on February 6, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  13. ↑
  14. ↑ 柯文哲挺扁 曾請假輔選
  15. ↑ 2012年04月21日 12:38 (2012-04-21). "沉寂3年 凱校重開課柯文哲當學生". Ettoday.net. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  16. ↑ 柯文哲凱校當學生 再轟衛生局
  17. ↑ 台灣人權發展及司法改革的遠景--柯文哲醫師11282012凱達格蘭學校演說 on YouTube
  18. ↑ 扁保外就醫 柯文哲推連署
  19. ↑ 凱達格蘭基金會募款餐會─柯文哲致詞 on YouTube
  20. ↑ 柯文哲︰再拖半年 扁恐癡呆
  21. ↑ 柯文哲：政治廢人
  22. ↑ 柯文哲：若選上北市長　就是放扁出來最佳機會
  23. ↑ 不快放扁「2年半內絕對會出事
  24. ↑ 遭嗆扁裝病　柯文哲籲善待敵人
  25. ↑ "蔡英文新春團拜現場高喊：總統好！ | 即時新聞 | 20140210 | 蘋果日報". Appledaily.com.tw. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  26. ↑ "蔡的台灣共識 柯文哲：沒人懂". Chinatimes.com. 2013-11-18. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  27. ↑ 與民進黨有共同理念？ 柯文哲：一起前進吧！
  28. ↑ 柯文哲：國民黨把台灣當旅社，大便就跑掉
  29. ↑ "青年海選計畫官網". Open.kptaipei.tw. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  30. ↑ 2014年05月24日 16:23 (2014-05-24). "柯文哲海選徵才吸引數百青年 太陽花學運志工到場相挺". Ettoday.net. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  31. ↑ "「青年海選計畫」後續計畫公告". Kptaipei.tw. 2014-05-29. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  32. ↑ "柯文哲參選 自估讓藍多花200億". Iservice.libertytimes.com.tw. 2014-01-19. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  33. ↑ 柯文哲：兩個太陽 不知跟誰談
  34. ↑ 柯文哲談入黨：將獅子趕進籠子
  35. ↑ 柯文哲入黨 莊瑞雄：事緩則圓
  36. 1 2 北市／柯文哲：當年扁落選…完全沒道理！
  37. ↑ 綠委隔空槓黨中央 挺柯文哲無黨參選
  38. ↑ 柯文哲：選前沒入黨 當選也不會
  39. ↑ 柯文哲重感冒 晚間辯論取消
  40. ↑ "嗆聲柯文哲 呂秀蓮：公開辯論3次！". Appledaily.com.tw. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  41. ↑ "民進黨談整合 柯文哲仍未表態入黨". Iservice.libertytimes.com.tw. 2014-02-14. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  42. ↑ "柯文哲「變卦」 台教會稱辯論會如期舉辦". Appledaily.com.tw. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  43. ↑ 再現驚人語！柯文哲：律師世代結束　綠委：又要得罪人
  44. ↑ 律師世代應結束！柯文哲：非指特定個人
  45. ↑ 柯文哲：不是我怪怪，是你們怪怪的！
  46. ↑ 顧立雄臉書悼蔡同榮　柯文哲酸「太矯情」
  47. ↑ 諷顧立雄矯情挨批　柯文哲：講過就算了！
  48. ↑ 孫友聯爆柯文哲演講放病患照 侵犯隱私
  49. ↑ 演講侵犯病人隱私？柯文哲：應無法辨識
  50. ↑
  51. ↑ 說邵曉鈴秀逗　柯文哲承認失言：回家被太太罵一頓
  52. ↑ 胡志強：怕曉鈴知道 報紙都藏起來
  53. ↑ 講邵曉鈴「秀斗」 柯文哲：應嚴格被檢驗
  54. ↑ "PK市政 姚文智.柯文哲將辦3場辯論". Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  55. ↑ "【蘋果民調】柯文哲、姚文智首場台北市長辯論，誰表現比較好？". Appledaily.com.tw. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  56. ↑ Loa, Lok-sin (11 November 2014). "Ko Wen-je to stop accepting campaign donations". Taipei Times. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  57. ↑ "柯文哲辦公室成立 四大幕僚出列". Mag.chinatimes.com. 2014-01-15. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  58. ↑ Q&A: Author and analyst Ethan Gutmann discusses China’s illegal organ trade 柯文哲疑似拿到法輪功信徒的器官, The Toronto Star, 21 October 2014
  59. ↑ 林, 朝億 (28 October 2014). "器捐疑雲 柯P嗆作者：公布一刀斃命錄音". Newtalk.tw (in Chinese).
  60. ↑ 涉大陸器官買賣？柯文哲：絕無此事 (in Chinese). 中時電子報. 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  61. ↑ Ko denies organ buying allegations Taipei Times
  62. ↑ "葛特曼律師回函 澄清柯P沒參與器官仲介". 27 November 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  63. ↑ Gutmann, Ethan (August 2014). The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem. Prometheus Books. p. 368. ISBN 978-1616149406.
  64. ↑ Ethan Gutmann published Photos of Dr. Ko Wen-je's correspondence" on his webpage
  65. ↑ Ramzy, Austin (29 November 2014). "Independent Is Elected Taipei Mayor as Taiwan’s Governing Party Falters". New York Times. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  66. ↑ Loa, Lok-sin (1 December 2014). "Mayor-elect Ko Wen-je names his first deputy". Taipei Times. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  67. ↑ Lo, Chi-hao James (2 December 2014). "Taipei mayor-elect Ko Wen-je releases preliminary cabinet list". China Post. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  68. ↑ Gerber, Abraham (12 February 2015). "Chou Li-fang to be third Taipei deputy mayor". Taipei Times. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  69. ↑ Kuo, An-chia; Chin, Jonathan (15 January 2016). "Taipei deputy mayor resigns". Taipei Times. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  70. ↑ Lee, Hsin-fang (22 February 2016). "Taipei mayor opts out of 228 Incident ceremonies". Taipei Times. Retrieved 22 February 2016.

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