Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday said the flooding caused by Typhoon Fanapi could deal a blow to Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu’s (陳菊) re-election bid in November.
Approached for comment at the legislature, Wang said “it is possible” the flooding will affect the result of November’s special municipality elections.
Wang, who doubles as chief supervisor for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Huang Chao-shun’s (黃昭順) campaign, said the flooding could also become an important agenda issue in the campaign.
PHOTO: CNA
On Friday, Chen outperformed Huang by 31 percentage points in an approval rating poll released by the Chinese-language China Times.
Wang’s comment came in response to speculation that the severe flooding in northern Kaohsiung could prove damaging to Chen’s re-election campaign.
However, former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), currently working as a Democratic Progressive Party election strategist, said he did not believe the city government’s response would have an impact on the election.
PHOTO: CNA
Residents living in the city’s Zuoying (左營), Nanzih (楠梓), Sanmin (楠梓) and Gushan (鼓山) districts were overwhelmed by knee-deep floodwaters caused by hours of torrential rain on Sunday.
The downpour caused the city’s most serious flooding in 50 years, bringing 1,000mm of rainfall to Kaohsiung’s plains and 1,200mm to the city’s mountainous areas.
The water in the city’s Love River and Nanzih’s Houjin River rose quickly and sharply, flooding the nearby areas and trapping residents in their houses.
PHOTO: AFP
The neighborhood of Taiwan High Speed Rail’s Zuoying Station was also seriously flooded.
Chen suspended all campaign activities yesterday and led city government officials to inspect districts seriously affected by the flooding, saying campaigning would not resume until cleanup efforts were completed.
“Our primary focus is dealing with the after-effects of the typhoon,” Chen’s campaign spokesperson, Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟), said in a short statement. “In the meantime, all election events will be postponed and our efforts will be on post-typhoon reconstruction.”
Chao also said supporters in local chapters of Chen’s campaign would be asked to volunteer with reconstruction and an original opening date for the mayor’s campaign headquarters over the weekend would be postponed indefinitely.
During her inspection trip to Nanzih and Sanmin districts, Chen was bombarded with complaints from victims of the flooding trapped on the second floor of their houses.
She apologized and blamed the flooding on the rainfall, saying the downpour exceeded the capacity of the city’s sewer and flood prevention system and caused flooding in the city’s low-lying areas.
She said it was necessary to review the systems’ design to prepare for extreme weather.
Meanwhile, Huang cut short a visit to Singapore and returned to Kaohsiung yesterday afternoon to help with the typhoon response.
Her campaign headquarters announced they would halt campaign activities and asked volunteers to help deliver food and supplies to flooded areas.
While members of Huang’s campaign team said they had heard criticism from local borough chiefs about the lack of preparation from the city government, they declined to say whether it would have an impact on the upcoming elections.
KMT spokesperson Chen Shu-jung (陳淑容) said Huang’s decision to return home showed her “strong feelings” for the Greater Kaohsiung area and that her party would fully cooperate with the relief effort and help residents return to their normal life.
Huang had planned to accompany KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) from Sunday through today on the Singapore leg of his trip. King embarked on a one-week visit to Japan and Singapore on Tuesday last week to promote party diplomacy.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS