New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) won a second term yesterday, with a narrow victory over his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) challenger, former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃), by a razor-thin margin of 959,302 votes to 934,774, or 50.06 percent of the vote to 48.78 percent
Although Chu has retained his mayoral post and his stock looks set to rise in the KMT’s senior hierarchy, the closeness of the result nevertheless came as a surprise to most political observers.
In the near future, Chu could be a force to be reckoned with and a major influence in the party, because he is the only KMT member to hold on to his municipality.
GRAPHIC: TT
Initial numbers from exit polls had both the KMT and DPP camps on the edge of their seats. Yu went in front in the early results, then it was Chu’s turn to go ahead as the lead changed several times.
The tight race proceeded through the early evening with no clear winner, as poll results trickled in from the 12 electoral districts in the nation’s most populous municipality.
Chu began to grab a narrow lead just before 7pm and he held on for the victory with the results announced after 9pm.
However, Yu almost snatched victory from Chu, a mayor widely seen as having considerable support among the electorate, and with the resources and the organizational advantages of being the ruling party in New Taipei City.
When the race began, Yu knew he had to fight an uphill battle, as most surveys had Chu possessing a large double-digit lead. Besides tabling well-received urban renewal and housing policies to redevelop the municipality, in the final weeks Yu narrowed the gap by advocating food safety and consumers’ rights.
He received a lot of support from civic groups and local communities after targeting the food scandals of the past few years, particularly by seeking compensation for consumers by launching a class-action lawsuit against Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團), the food conglomerate which was involved in several of the adulterated food scandals and which was alleged to have made a large profit by benefiting from a land rezoning deal in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重). Yu criticized Chu for approving the deal.
By comparison, in the 2010 New Taipei City mayoral election Chu had prevailed over DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) by a margin of 1,115,536 votes to 1,004,900, 52.61 percent to 47.39 percent.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by