Shih pitches proposal for Kaohsiung

Independent Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Shih Ming-teh (施明德) yesterday visited opposition legislative caucuses to plug his vision of making the southern municipality an autonomous district.

KMT and PFP lawmakers gave their thumbs-up to Shih's proposal but insisted on separating the issue from the elections, as both parties have their own flag-bearers.

Shih, who favors active trade between Taiwan and China, pledged to turn the port city into a launching pad for direct cross-strait transport if he is elected in December.

"If put into practice, the design would make direct links possible and bring prosperity to the city, which has hit a bottleneck in its development," he said.

The candidate first visited the KMT caucus where he promoted his idea as the best way to pull Kaohsiung away from the economic doldrums and help end cross-strait gridlock.

The former DPP chairman said that as an autonomous district, Kaohsiung would witness free flow of capital, manpower, and commodities between Taiwan and China.

The exchanges would benefit Kaohsiung residents whose average unemployment rate is higher than the national index of 5.11 percent, he added.

"Not only Kaohsiung City, but also all of southern Taiwan, would become economically prosperous under my plan," Shih stressed.

To avoid embarrassing his hosts, he did not explicitly ask the main opposition party to throw its weight behind his mayoral bid. Rather, he pegged his visit as an attempt to seek support for his bill.

KMT legislative leader Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said his party would endorse any bills conducive to promoting the public interest.

KMT legislator Cheng Feng-shih (鄭逢時) praised Shih as a man of vision who does not have selfish ambitions like those in power.

"Constantly seeking to fulfill his ideals, Shih stands out as a role model for the DPP government whose officials have vowed to boost the economy but have been preoccupied with power wrangling," Cheng said.

But Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教), another KMT legislative leader, warned against linking the policy discussion with the year-end elections.

"Please don't mix up the two issues, as the KMT has fielded its own candidate for the mayoral race," Lee told reporters.

Shih later paid a social call on the PFP caucus whose lawmakers also found favorable the notion of an autonomous Kaohsiung.

PFP Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) lauded the plan to make Kaohsiung a special district as a brilliant remedy to heal the city's economic stagnancy.

Chiu, who represents the southern municipality, said that under the leadership of incumbent mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), Kaohsiung has slipped from the third to the fourth largest cargo port in the world.

"The berth may soon be replaced by Shanghai if the government does nothing to maintain Kaohsiung's edge," he cautioned.

Going a step further, PFP lawmaker Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) said he would endorse Shih.

He repeatedly greeted Shih as "Mayor Shih" who he said would make Kaohsiung a better place to live if elected.

But PFP legislative whip Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) shrugged off Fu's opinion as purely personal.