Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) has been promoting himself as someone who keeps his promises, citing his “achievements” as New Taipei City mayor as proof. However, looking at what he has promised and what he has delivered seems to indicate the opposite.
At campaign rallies and in televised debates, Chu has criticized Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), saying that she has no experience in an elected position and might not be able to deliver on her campaign promises, as she has not explained how she would realize the promises she has made.
To counter Tsai’s “inexperience,” Chu often says that he has been elected as a lawmaker, a commissioner of the former Taoyuan County and New Taipei City mayor, and has always kept his word.
Yet he is a “talker” more than a “doer” — the label he chooses for himself.
Chu broke a promise when he, faced with speculation that he would leave his post as New Taipei City mayor, said in December 2014 when been sworn in for his second term that he would “do the job well” and complete his term. However, he joined the presidential race prior to the end of his term.
Some might say that Chu is not breaking his promise if he loses the election and returns to complete his term, but, it should not be forgotten that he had also repeatedly claimed that he would not run in the presidential election.
In April last year, when asked whether he would run for president, Chu, seemingly irritated by the question, said: “I will not run in the 2016 [presidential election], is the answer good enough?”
Further asked if he made that decision after considering it for a long time, Chu said: “I have been saying so for more than one year.”
Nevertheless, he replaced Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) as the KMT’s nominee for the presidential race at the party’s extraordinary national congress in October.
When running for New Taipei City mayor in 2010, he promised that he would complete — or at least start construction of — three circular MRT lines, and three other MRT and light-rail lines in New Taipei City in his first term.
However, construction on only two of the six lines was under way when Chu began the second year of his second term as New Taipei City mayor.
When serving two terms as Taoyuan County commissioner from 2001 to 2009, Chu promised to complete the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project and Taoyuan’s MRT system. However, the land expropriation for the Taoyuan Aerotropolis is still being disputed, while the construction of Taoyuan’s MRT system has not even begun more than six years after Chu completed his term as county commissioner.
During Friday’s televised debate, when Tsai spoke about her policy for the nation’s Aborigines, Chu said that he has also been taking good care of Aborigines both as Taoyuan County commissioner and New Taipei City mayor.
However, it was during Chu’s term as Taoyuan County commissioner that the homes belonging to the Sa’owac Amis Aboriginal community in the county’s Dasi Township (大溪) was forcibly torn down, while another Amis community, Kanjin (崁津部落), also in Dasi, was threatened with having their dwellings flattened.
Residents of the two Amis villages originally came from Hualien and Taitung Counties and built their dwellings themselves since they were unable to afford housing after moving to the north and working in construction or other low-paying jobs.
Chu, who claims to have been taking good care of Aborigines, chose to tear down their houses and did not offer them assistance.
Chu is making more promises as a presidential candidate, but, based on his past, voters should not put too much trust in his promises.
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