Despite accounting for just 1.2 percent of the national voting population, Chiayi City has been of great significance in charting the country's democratic course -- and last night, for the first time in decades, a non-independent candidate won the mayoral race.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠) upset Mayor Chen Li-chen (陳麗貞) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The result was even more surprising since the city's voting record has not favored the KMT for quite a while.
The major independent camp in the city, the so-called Hsu Band (許家班), was established by Hsu Shih-hsien (許世賢), a former mayor who is famous for resisting KMT authoritarian rule and fighting for democracy during the Martial Law era.
Hsu and her two daughters, Chang Po-ya (張博雅) and Chang Wen-ying (
Chen Li-chen, who served for quite a while as Chang Po-ya's deputy, was affiliated with the camp before she joined the DPP in 2003.
Chen Li-chen had hoped to win re-election by winning over the supporters of both the DPP and the Hsu Band, but she was faced with the burden of representing the DPP, said Chen Cheng-kuan (陳政寬), chairman of the local KMT chapter.
"Chen Li-chen was encumbered with the DPP's negative image from recent scandals, and the city's people think highly of the integrity of their mayor, which is Hsu's key legacy. Chen Li-chen and the DPP, however, disappointed the voters," he said.
He said that Chen Li-chen had also been hurt by the bad blood between the DPP and Chang Po-ya in recent years.
On Thursday, Chang Po-ya had asked her supporters to withdraw their backing for Chen Li-chen.
Chen Chang-kuan said that the KMT victory in Chiayi City, which used to be a hotbed of anti-KMT sentiment because of widespread killings during the 228 Incident, meant a lot to the party.
Lin Hung-chan (
It was like losing the locomotive of southern Taiwan, where people have been strongly backing the DPP for years, Lin said.
Lin, however, rejected the suggestion that the DPP had proved to be a burden for Chen Li-chen.
"Chen Li-chen was a senior civil servant for 18 years, but not a politician with a lot of election experience," Lin said. "This put her at a disadvantage when it came to defending herself and attacking her rival during the campaign."
GENSLER SURVEY: ‘Economic infrastructure is not enough. A city needs to inspire pride, offer moments of joy and foster a sense of belonging,’ the company said Taipei was named the city with the “highest staying power” in the world by US-based design and architecture firm Gensler. The Taiwanese capital earned the top spot among 65 cities across six continents with 64 percent of Taipei respondents in a survey of 33,000 people saying they wanted to stay in the city. Rounding out the top five were Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (61 percent), Singapore (59 percent), Sydney (58 percent) and Berlin (51 percent). Sixth to 10th place went to Monterrey, Mexico; Munich, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Vancouver; and Seoul. Cities in the US were ranked separately, with Minneapolis first at
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
RSS