The 23 county commissioners and city mayors elected in the Dec. 1 elections took their oaths of office yesterday. And in a sign of difficult times, most promised to boost their local economies.
The handover ceremonies were held under the auspices of the Ministry of the Interior in the requisite counties and cities across the country.
Taoyuan County's new commissioner, Chu Li-lun (朱立倫), said that he would deal with the top three problems he said Taoyuan residents are most concerned about: traffic, security and financial difficulties.
PHOTO: CHEN CHUN-SHENG, TAIPEI TIMES
He said that the Taoyuan County Government will bring more bus-inesses into the county and promised to shorten the application process to obtain permission to build plants in the county.
The new DPP commissioner in Chiayi County, Chen Ming-wen(陳明文), said that since Chiayi is primarily an agricultural region, his government will face tough challenges upgrading the sector to deal with Taiwan's entry into the WTO. He added, however, that "Crisis also means opportunity. I believe that if we cooperate with each other, we will meet the challenges."
The incoming DPP commissioner of Tainan County, Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智), made the same promise in his mainly agricultural county.
Su also promised to establish a biotech park and, like his predecessor Chen Tang-shan (陳唐山), "to bring business from all over Taiwan" into the county.
In Taipei County, re-elected DPP commissioner Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) promised to improve the county's investment environment.
"I will spend every penny appropriately, strengthen the government's administrative efficiency, create more job opportunities and push for greater cooperation between the central and local governments," Su said.
In Miaoli County, independent Commissioner Fu Hseuh-peng (傅學鵬) proposed four goals for Miaoli, including building a university and developing technology, tourism and welfare.
In Hsinchu City, KMT Mayor Lin Cheng-tse (林政則) emphasized his social welfare policy, promising an increase in subsidies for the elderly and women's maternity allowances.
In Taichung City, outgoing mayor Chang Wen-ying (張溫鷹) said she hopes the newly elected mayor, Jason Hu, will help Taichung overtake Kaohsiung and Taipei to become Taiwan's "top city."
The DPP, which controlled 12 districts in 1997, won just nine city and county districts this time around. The KMT, which previously controlled eight counties, was victorious in nine districts.
Independent candidates and the People First Party captured two districts each, while the New Party took only Kinmen County.
Local heads have complained bitterly about their financial plight since the election. Many local government are heavily reliant on loans.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) promised at a meeting with all of the newly elected leaders last Sunday that the Cabinet will adopt measures to help them cope with their fiscal woes.
Emotional incidents, however, marred the ceremonies in Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Chiayi.
In Chiayi County, outgoing commissioner Lee Ya-ching (李雅景) failed to attend the handover ceremony for "personal reasons." In Taoyuan County, a county councilor heckled outgoing commissioner Hsu Ying-shen (許應深) during his speech and in Hsinchu County, the newly elected commissioner's supporters implored the outgoing commissioner, Lin Kuang-hua (林光華), to end his speech after he had spoken for over an hour.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS