Pan-green politicians yesterday rejected a claim by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) that Kaohsiung is lacking in economic activity and has “nothing left” but concerts and entertainment events to attract tourists.
“Right now for Kaohsiung, the trendy thing is the ‘music concert economy,’ but this economy cannot sustain a city of 2 million,” Gou said at a rally in Kaohsiung’s Fongshan District (鳳山) on Sunday, during his campaign to win the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) nomination for next year’s presidential election.
He said Kaohsiung in the past had a unique role in national economic planning with previous governments, as it focused on export processing and manufacturing, eventually becoming the world’s largest container-shipping port.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
“But now the city has nothing left” but the entertainment industry, he said.
Gou was referring to recent top acts that performed at Kaohsiung venues, boosting the city’s tourism and hospitality sectors.
They included concerts by South Korean quartet Blackpink, veteran Taiwanese band Mayday (五月天) and pop singer A-mei (張惠妹), as well as the two-day Megaport Music Festival featuring several domestic and international rock and rap artists.
DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑), who represents Kaohsiung’s Fongshan District (鳳山), yesterday denounced Gou for speaking so poorly about the city
Gou “lacks understanding” of the Kaohsiung’s progress on broadening its economy over the past two decades, Hsu said.
“Kaohsiung has made giant strides, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co building a chip plant in the city,” he said.
“The Smart City manufacturing base includes [Gou’s] own Hon Hai [Precision] Industry, along with several large investment projects by international firms,” Hsu said. “Kaohsiung’s economy has seen much growth, and it will only get better.”
Independent Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie (黃捷) said that past KMT administrations in the city focused on its role solely as an industrial manufacturing base for heavy industries, including oil refineries, petrochemical plants, shipbuilding and steel production.
“These have left Kaohsiung with pollution and road congestion due to a lack of urban planning and other problems,” Huang said.
The city’s transformation began when former DPP mayors including Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Chen Chu (陳菊), and current Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) pushed for cultural programs and large public projects, including a sports stadium, music center and mass rapid transit system, she said.
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