Through the combined efforts of the Kaohsiung City Government and the central government, using a host of indirect, roundabout and artful means, Kaohsiung won the right to host the World Games in 2009. This is an unprecedented event for Taiwan, and cause for great celebration. That we have succeeded in dodging China's vicious obstruction to participate in this international event and increase the visibility of democratic Taiwan is even more valuable.
At the same time as this joyous announcement, we heard that the Taipei City Government owes [the central government] a large amount of money for National Health Insurance subsidies. Rather than apologizing for the social disruption caused, the city has held high-profile press conferences to condemn the central government.
One city government is working to create opportunities (holding the World Games will increase the city's profile and create business opportunities); the other can only undermine the city's reputation. The relative ability and intelligence of the two protagonists (the mayors of both cities) is clear for all to see.
Regardless of how much support Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Both Ma and Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
On the other hand, there is Taipei, which has the exulted position of being Taiwan's capital. Since Ma took over the reins of government, the vitality Taipei had when President Chen Shui-bian (
Before Ma became mayor, Taipei had two locations that could be considered "urban landmarks:" the 228 Museum and the "roundabout" snack market on Nanjing West Road. Where are they now? Both locations have fallen on hard times, and spots in which the memories and emotions of locals and tourists reside, where a unique sentiment reposed, have been plucked away. If such things can occur, there is really no point in talking about urban vitality.
But Ma has not failed in every-thing. He has made Taipei a "city in crisis" existing in a state of constant opposition to the central government. The fact that Taipei has become a center of political opposition and a place avoided by tourists is partly the result of its ethnic composition and media coverage, but the primary reason behind this situation is Ma's political style.
Even in 1998, when Ma first took office as Taipei's mayor, his contrary nature was already clear. Even though the central government was then still headed by the KMT, because Lee Teng-hui (
When Chen became president in 2000, and there was a transition of political power, Ma's role in leading Taipei in opposition to the central government has become his political trademark. Simply put, in adopting an attitude of resistance to the central government, Ma has established himself as a symbol of opposition against Lee and Chen, and a leader of the "restoration faction." All the while, members of the "Ma gang" in the city government dragged Taipei into a state of crisis.
Because of the demands of promoting a policy against localization and for restoration, Taipei City can never be revitalized with Ma in charge. The city will lose its sentimental links with its past and become a political battleground. It is not dissimilar to what happened during the era of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), in which Taiwan was regarded as a base from which to retake China. At this time, Taiwan's indigenous culture lacked vitality, for only the passion for political conflict was encouraged and modernization was impossible. Now, Taipei has become a base for a pro-unificationist restoration. The darkness that encompasses Taipei is in stark contrast to the sunlight in which Kaohsiung is bathed.
Lao Pao is a political commentator.
Translated by Ian Bartholomew
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