By Lee I-chia / Staff reporterTaipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said he heard that the slots for Taipei city councilors’ to sign up for this year’s cross-strait twin-city forum have all been filled, amid calls by some councilors that he should not cohost the event with Shanghai if he wants to run for president. Although the Taipei City Government has dismissed speculation that this year’s forum is to be held next month, Ko has said that city officials would visit Shanghai this month to discuss details of the forum that is expected to be held in the Chinese city this year. The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) yesterday reported that Taipei City Government Deputy Secretary-General Chen Chih-ming (陳志銘) on Tuesday left for Shanghai to discuss the forum. Asked about the councilors’ advice, Ko said it was strange, because he was told that the quota for city councilors to attend this year’s forum was fully booked. He added that participating in the forum is not a problem for him, because he has not said he is running for president.

Source: Taipei Times June 19, 2019 15:56 UTC