Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Tainan yesterday saw their political “status quo” maintained after incumbent Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) and Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德), both members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), succeeding in being elected for a second term in office.
Chen received 993,300 votes, or 68.09 percent of the votes cast, while Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) mayoral candidate Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) received 450,647 votes, for 30.89 percent of the total.
Independent mayoral candidate Chou Ke-sheng (周可盛) received 14,925 votes, or 1.02 percent of the total.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
Chen’s votes had increased from 821,089 votes, or 52.79 percent of the total in 2010.
Chen said she would continue her policies of helping Greater Kaohsiung’s transition to a more habitable city, maintaining district equality, increasing social welfare and helping industry become more innovative.
Chen also expressed gratitude to supporters for voting for her and being steadfast supporters of the DPP, and extended thanks to all of her campaign personnel as well, as she had been busy overseeing the rebuilding the city after the gas pipeline explosions in early August.
Graphic: TT
Meanwhile, Yang acknowledged that he lost the election and said it was “a severe setback,” but said that he wished to thank the people of Greater Kaohsiung who had supported him.
In Greater Tainan, although the mayoral candidates’ nominations of both parties had all but settled the question of who would win the election, the focus on the mayoral elections was instead on the number of votes that Lai would receive.
Though Lai’s popularity in the city was expected, pundits said that the more votes Lai received, the more it would help his future career.
Graphic: TT
Greater Tainan election results concluded with Lai receiving 711,557 votes, or 72.9 percent of the votes, while the KMT’s Huang Hsiu-shuang (黃秀霜) received 264,536 votes, or 27.1 percent of the total.
Compared with the results from the previous election in 2010, Lai’s votes have increased by 91,660 from 2010’s 619,897, and his support rate has increased by 12.49 percentage points from 60.41 percent.
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