The first televised debate between two candidates for the position of mayor of Taipei City was staged yesterday.
Incumbent Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Although they traded barbs during the debate, both candidates were polite to each other, as were the supporters who attended the event.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The two-hour debate began with a 10-minute speech by each candidate, followed by their answers to questions raised by a panel of journalists and an academic chosen by the organizers.
The panel was made up of Yu Kuo-chi (
This was followed by a debate between the two, with each candidate putting questions and parrying questions from the other.
Many issues about the city came up during the debate, notably Lee's advocacy of relocating Sungshan Airport out of the city to make way for a public park and Ma's advocacy of using the airport as a terminal for direct flights to and from China.
"Sungshan Airport would be ideal for such flights and convenient for Taiwanese business executives who have operations in China," said Ma, adding that many businessmen in Nankang and Neihu technology parks shared his views.
Lee said that Ma's plan presented too much of a security risk.
Removal of the airport would not only free the surrounding residents from noise pollution but also free the surrounding buildings from the height restrictions now imposed because of aviation safety concerns.
"With the removal of the airport, the area can be surrounded by massive Manhattan-style apartment buildings," Lee said. "And the construction of a 182-hectare city park can offer a more livable living environment" for residents of the area.
When asked by the panel that whether a referendum would be considered to help settle the issue, Ma and Lee responded differently.
Ma said that he was not opposed to the holding of a referendum but such a mechanism did not exist at the present time and therefore other ways of assessing public opinion such as conducting polls or holding public hearings, might be used.
Lee, on the other hand, supported the idea of a referendum, saying that such a measure was an expression of democracy and that he would work to push for the passage of legislation providing for the holding of referendums in the Legislature Yuan.
The proposed domed stadium for Taipei City was also a topic of heated debate during which Ma slammed Lee for being inconsistent.
"While Lee was the Cabinet secretary-general, he approved the city's request to build the proposed stadium on the site of the old Sungshan tobacco factory (松山菸廠)," Ma said. "Yet now, bidding for the mayoral seat, he [Lee] has changed his mind and wants to build the stadium in Shihlin."
Responding to Ma's criticism, Lee clarified that the approval document then had clearly stated that the Cabinet approved the proposal reluctantly with the stated conditions that the city government must first take care of issues such as aviation concerns, land acquisition, traffic flow and preservation of the site's historical value before starting construction.
"Besides," said Lee, who resigned from his secretary-general post in June to run for mayor, "Now that I am running for mayor, I have the right to offer a better location for building the proposed stadium."
Lee added that his plan to build the stadium in Shihlin could help boost business opportunities in the area.
Lee spent a lot of time finding fault with Ma's performance on the job, while Ma went to great lengths to defend his achievements.
Lee criticized Ma's crisis-reaction ability and the efficiency of the Taipei City Government under his leadership, citing what he called the postponement of major projects and the inundation of the city's underground mass transit system when Typhoon Nari hit the city on Sept. 17 last year.
Facing Lee's fierce attacks, soft-spoken Ma never lost his cool. He patiently and calmly answered his rival's challenges, saying that he wanted to make the race a pride of the country by winning it through his merits and his past achievements rather than by badmouthing his rival.
In answering questions from journalists, Ma ruled out the possibility of his deserting his job at City Hall, if he wins, to join the 2004 race for the presidency.
Both candidates lauded the debate as a success afterward, although neither would grade his own performance, saying it is up to the voters.
At the debate, Ma said he was willing to hold a second debate, a suggestion welcomed by Lee. The date and location of the second debate has yet to be decided.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —