When former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) announced his candidacy for the Taipei mayoral election in March, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) asked whether Su would run for president in 2012. After Hau announced his intention to seek re-election last month, he questioned Su’s position on the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Beijing. In opening his campaign office yesterday, Hau attacked Su’s campaign slogan, saying that “Taipei Will Surpass Taipei” is redundant, as all mayors seek to exceed their predecessors. His slogan was much better, in that “Taipei Fly High” refers to the direct flights recently begun between Shanghai Hongqiao and Taipei Songshan airports, Hau said.
One hopes that the new Shanghai route is more successful than the Wenshan-Neihu MRT line, which has been plagued by technical problems since opening last year. Indeed, one wonders why, with so many pressing municipal issues, Hau dwells on slogans and national politics. Other topics that Taipei residents would like to see addressed include the Maokong Gondola fiasco, the massive debt to the National Health Insurance Program, bus lanes on city streets, Jiencheng Circle, the soaring cost of housing, property tax reform and pollution of the Tamsui and Keelung rivers.
Of course, it is no mystery why Hau avoids such issues. All are a direct result of either his poor performance in office over the last four years or that of his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) predecessor, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). Given that Hau’s job approval ratings hover at about 40 percent, it is no wonder he remains firmly focused on the irrelevant.
Hau’s opponent seems no more eager to deliver. While Su offers a steady stream of promises and platitudes, he is too distracted by his party’s national agenda to be specific.
This too is unsurprising. Pro-independence groups threatened not to support Su if he didn’t oppose the ECFA. In addition, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) and the KMT’s habit of running party heavyweights in local elections is bound to raise questions about their loyalties and credentials.
To give Hau credit, questioning Su’s commitment to Taipei is entirely justified. The same is true of the DPP candidate for Sinbei City, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is being groomed as a presidential candidate. Aside from her lack of municipal experience and the fact that she and Su both aspire to national office, they play crucial leadership roles in the DPP. Running Taipei and Sinbei will require a major commitment of time and expertise.
It is just such a commitment that voters should demand in municipal elections, rather than looking to the ECFA or the sloganeering of celebrity politicians. Taipei residents are particularly inclined to the seductions of national politics and capital city vanity.
As with other large municipalities in Taiwan, Taipei’s problems are largely practical and candidates for office, including that of mayor, should be held accountable before and after being elected. Doing so would help ensure passengers on the Wenshan-Neihu MRT line might actually reach their destinations in future. It would also encourage both parties to develop stronger candidates who are familiar with local issues and able to address them in public debate.
Tsai and Su have made it clear that they do not plan to abandon their positions if elected. If they — or any other candidate — fails to deliver, they should be held accountable.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS