If it weren’t for the bodyguards swarming him, it’d be easy to mistake Ko Wen-je for someone’s socially awkward uncle and not a man who could soon be managing one of the world’s most dangerous geopolitical flash points as Taiwan’s next president.
The 64-year-old former trauma surgeon entered politics just a decade ago and is running as a third-party candidate in an election that’s usually a race between the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the opposition Kuomintang. Ko has few aides, little money and admits he doesn’t enjoy meeting people.
