Tue, Jan 01, 2019 page3

• INTERVIEW: Taoyuan’s Cheng Wen-tsan talks victory and defeat

  Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who won re-election in the Nov. 24 local elections, discussed the steps he believes the party should take to recover from electoral losses in an interview with staff reporters Hsieh Wu-hsiung, Wei Chin-yun, and Yu Jui-jen of the ‘Liberty Times’ (sister newspaper of the ‘Taipei Times’)

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  Liberty Times (LT):

  With a national government that has been described as “ineffective,” how did you win over your Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) opponent by a large number of votes?

  

  Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan smiles in Taoyuan on Dec. 10.

  Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times

  Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦): The main reason that I received 50,000 more votes than last time and won over KMT mayoral candidate Apollo Chen (陳學聖) by nearly 150,000 votes is probably because Chen did not relate to local voters.

  I believe that simplifying municipal work so that all citizens can understand exactly what the city government does in terms of infrastructure and other efforts is crucial to earning voters’ approval. This is the “Cheng Wen-tsan model.” Chen launched smear campaigns every other day, but they proved useless.

  The Taoyuan City Government during my previous term continued former [KMT] county commissioner John Wu’s (吳志揚) good policies — such as a youth employment center, a college recruitment fair, certification and learning centers, and subsidies for credit classes — and halted the incorrect ones.

  Wu’s plan to elevate railway lines is the most obvious case. I believed that it was the second-best plan. Only by changing it to a 100-year plan to move the railways underground could it gain public approval.

  LT: After President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) resigned as DPP chairperson, people within the DPP demanded that a member of the “middle generation” take over. Calls for you to take up the position were said to be the loudest. How did you go from choosing not to run for chairperson to endorsing Executive Yuan Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai’s (卓榮泰) candidacy?

  Cheng: My main consideration was that municipal work consumes nearly 95 percent of my energy. I really could not divide my time between the functions. I and other “middle generation” party members rallied behind Cho’s candidacy to emphasize that we are willing to share the responsibility. Otherwise, the newly elected chairperson would feel alone. The seven of us came up with this “script” together.

  After discussion, we agreed that it would be better for a “middle generation” member to step up. We also asked former Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) about his willingness [to run]. He turned us down, so we agreed to nominate Cho, who now needs to follow the DPP’s democratic process and be elected by party members.

  LT: Why did the DPP incur such large losses in the elections? How can it learn from the experience and win back electoral support?

  Cheng: In the elections, the DPP collapsed in Taichung, and Changhua and Yunlin counties. The tables were also turned against the DPP in Chiayi City and Kaohsiung. Although the party kept the Tainan mayorship, its mayoral candidate received considerably fewer votes than in previous elections.

  After the elections, I proposed to reshuffle the Presidential Office, the Cabinet and the party to show that the DPP had reflected on the losses. Like Cho said, the “Han tide” [referring to Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) popularity supposedly influencing results far beyond that city] reflected the public’s dissatisfaction with many DPP policies. The party must ask itself why people went from liking the DPP to hating it.

  I believe that the DPP’s most important task at the moment is to “clear the battlefield” quickly and eliminate some of the factors dragging it down. After all, the elections saw a shift in the electoral map because of the “Han tide,” which shows that people are dissatisfied with the DPP government’s administrative record of two-and-a-half years.

  The administration’s pursuit of pension reforms, same-sex marriage legalization, the “one fixed day off and one flexible rest day” labor policy and “grassroots economics,” and its desire to lift a ban on some Japanese food imports have cost the DPP dearly.

  LT: Will you run for president in 2024?

  Cheng: Running the city well is my first priority. To become a qualified presidential candidate you must have administrative experience at the local and national levels. The learning process is very long — you cannot succeed on the first try. Only some people can meet such requirements.

  Politicians often use phrases like: “My aspirations...,” but most will not see their aspirations realized. I will not make promises about “lofty dreams.” I will maintain a pragmatic attitude, taking things one step at a time and doing my work well.

  LT: Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), and many KMT mayors and commissioners have said that they would seek to bolster exchanges with China, whereas you have made inroads in municipal-level exchanges with the US and Japan. What will municipal exchanges focus on during your second term?

  Cheng: Of course, cross-strait exchanges are good, but phrases like the “1992 consensus” and “both sides of the Strait are one family” have become like passwords for such exchanges. Such conditions just throw up political barricades. When we the two sides host exchanges it should not be a prerequisite that visitors say things that they cannot accept.

  Exchanges are exchanges. We must lower their political cost as much as possible, or they might become too difficult to conduct.

  During my first term as mayor I organized exchanges with US and Japanese cities. In the second term I will pursue exchanges with Southeast Asian cities. In regard to exchanges with China, I am cautiously optimistic.

  LT: The Internet and social media play an ever bigger role in politics. How do you and the DPP plan to adapt?

  Cheng: The growing influence of the Internet has truly reduced voters’ loyalty to any one party, while online platforms also tend to foster extreme [views]. It is difficult to conduct rational dialogue through such platforms. The problem is compounded by the prevalence of false news, which tends to elicit extreme comments.

  The administration must deal with this problem. In particular, it must address the disconnect between traditional campaign activities and online public discourse.

  However, no matter what, politics increasingly requires mastering the Internet and paying heed to online public discourse. [Politicians] must learn how to market themselves through the Internet.

  For example, a live stream online can reach 10 times as many people as an in-person speech. While a physical speech might reach 2,000 to 3,000 people, a live stream could easily engage 20,000 to 30,000.

  I will spend a lot more time on Facebook, Line and other social media sharing the results of public works.

  Translated by staff writers Sherry Hsiao and William Hetherington
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