In a televised debate, the three candidates vying for Greater Kaohsiung’s mayoral seat laid out their visions yesterday for the soon-to-be largest metropolis in southern Taiwan with a population of 2.77 million.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) pleaded with Kaohsiung residents to vote for a candidate who has been consistent in politics, saying “perseverance” is a vital characteristic for a mayor to carry out policies efficiently to transform the city and boost its competitiveness.
Without naming names, Chen’s target was Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興), who quit the DPP in August to run as an independent after losing to Chen in the party primary.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
The values people in southern Taiwan have cherished are neither “opportunism” nor inconsistency, Chen said.
Chen, the frontrunner in opinion polls, showed confidence in the debate as she called on greater Kaoshiung area voters to give her “more than 50 percent of the votes” in the election.
Chen said she would continue with the principles that in the past four years have successfully turned Kaohsiung City, the industrial center of southern Taiwan, into a livable city.
The principles of Kaohsiung were that it encouraged civic participation and let citizens decide what the city should look like, promoted emerging industries with ideas about culture and innovation and favored development projects in harmony with the environment, rather than over-development and depletion of resources, she said.
BEAUTIFUL, BUT SLOW
For his part, Yang praised Chen’s record in advancing democracy and beautifying Kaohsiung City, but questioned her ability to develop the local economy.
“It is not enough to make a city beautiful. What is more important is to bring in businesses and economic development projects. Kaohsiung City is more beautiful than before, but business is slow,” he said.
The Kaohsiung City Government did a great job hosting the World Games last year, but “did people have more money in their pockets after the Games?” Yang said.
After leaving the DPP, Yang changed his previous stance opposing the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) to supporting the accord, incurring criticism from pan-green supporters.
During the debate, Yang said he would lead a delegation to China to promote Greater Kaohsiung as an investment and tourist destination if he wins the election.
HUANG PLEADS
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順), meanwhile, called on people to terminate the DPP’s 12-year rule in Kaohsiung City and 25 years of administration in Kaohsiung County.
“The population of Kaohsiung has stagnated over the past 15 years, which means that Kaohsiung is a municipality that is losing out to other counties and cities in terms of competitiveness,” Huang said.
Huang pledged to bring back former residents who have moved out of Kaohsiung if she is elected, with the aim of increasing the population to 3.8 million in four years.
The central government has agreed to offer a NT$10 billion (US$330 million) fund to grant -interest-free loans to young people to establish businesses in Kaohsiung, she added.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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