Chiang Wan-an was a teenager when his father sat him down to tell him about his heritage: he¡¯s the great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese nationalist leader who fought Mao Zedong¡¯s Communists forces before fleeing to Taiwan and ruling it with an iron fist.

Now the younger Chiang, who was a corporate lawyer in the U.S. before entering Taiwan politics several years ago, is running for Taipei mayor in an election that could help restore the popularity of his famous ancestor¡¯s political party, the Kuomintang (KMT).

The once-dominant party, whose charter still calls for unification with China, has seen support wither.