The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) primary for the next Kaohsiung mayoral election has ended with the victory of Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆), also known as Zeno Lai. It was an intense primary, and that is no surprise: Every serious internal poll suggested that any of the four DPP hopefuls would comfortably defeat their Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival.
Add to this the popularity of incumbent mayor, Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), and you have a prize that many politicians understandably see as an easy victory. Each time I attend a public event here, the arrival of officials on stage is greeted with the usual polite applause, but when Chen takes the floor, the crowd responds as if Blackpink just walked in.
It makes sense: Chen has presided over the golden age of Taiwan’s southern city.
However, Kaohsiung is not the “pan-green stronghold” that many people think it is. The city is only loyal to itself.
Under former Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the DPP, Kaohsiung initiated its transition from a rough industrial harbor into a city of culture, art and ambitious infrastructure. When progress stalled, voters punished the party, opting for the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) in 2018. When Han canceled the light rail extension and it became clear he saw Kaohsiung as a mere stepping stone to the presidency, he was ousted by recall.
Chen Chi-mai got the message. Under his tenure, Kaohsiung’s metamorphosis has continued and accelerated. Beyond the harbor and the heavy industry, the city has seen growth in tourism, culture, arts, technology and services. Kaohsiung’s international policy has also been massively successful. It has become a place its residents are rightly proud of.
In this sense, Lai’s victory is perfectly logical. Although Chen Chi-mai did not openly endorse him during the primary, few people in Kaohsiung doubted Lai was his preferred successor and he is widely perceived as the continuity candidate.
That is precisely where the challenge lies.
Growth has become Kaohsiung’s opium. We are hooked on the idea that every year must be visibly “better” than the last, with more projects, more festivals, more infrastructure. Yet any jurisdiction — whether a city or a country — eventually stalls.
There is only so much physical space at the Pier-2 Art Center to build new shops and galleries. There are only so many light rail or MRT lines you could construct. At some point, Kaohsiung has to plateau, if only temporarily. The city needs a mayor who can maintain its quality of life without promising perpetual fireworks.
That is the paradox that Lai, or any other future mayor, would have to navigate. Kaohsiung’s residents have shown they are perfectly willing to swing from the DPP to the KMT and back again if they feel their expectations of growth and dignity are not met. This is not a city that forgives complacency just because a party wears the right color.
Lai’s victory and his current popularity reflect a deep satisfaction among Kaohsiung residents with the direction in which the city has been heading under Chen Chi-mai. The DPP primary result is less a partisan coronation than a public endorsement of a model: a Kaohsiung that grows, modernizes and asserts itself without losing its soul.
The next administration, whoever leads it, would have very large shoes to fill. At the very least, it would need to maintain what has been built and not take a single step back, lest it meet the same fate as Han. It would need to be careful in managing the thirst for novelty. Let us hope the next mayor understands that before the crowd stops clapping.
Julien Oeuillet hosts the weekly program Taiwan vs the World on Radio Taiwan International and is a coproducer of Taiwan
Talks on TaiwanPlus.
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