National Taiwan University adjunct professor of political science Li Hsi-kun (李錫錕) yesterday announced his Taipei mayoral bid as an independent on a platform that included the establishment of a “Songshan airport special zone,” which he said would help create jobs and public housing.
Li, who in 1989 ran in the commissioner election of then-Taipei county (now New Taipei City) as a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate, has since 2016 built a fan base posting daily videos on Facebook in which he shares views on politics and current events.
Li on Friday last week posted a video inviting the more than 720,000 followers of his page, on which he dubs himself “Professor of Power” or ”Power Kun,” to attend a meeting in Taipei yesterday, at which he announced his candidacy in the Nov. 24 elections.
Photo: CNA
Anyone and any party that accepts his idea of a “pan-out-of-power force” could cooperate with him, Li said, adding that he thinks Taiwanese are tired of the political struggle between the pan-blue and pan-green camps.
Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is about eight-and-a-half times the size of Daan Forest Park (大安森林公園), Li said, proposing to use one-eighth of the land to build another “forest park” and the remaining area for 50,000 public housing units allowing social minorities, older and young people, as well as families to live in the city at an affordable price.
Public nurseries and healthcare facilities could also be built on the premises, Li said.
About 10,000 units could be used as temporary housing for people whose houses are undergoing urban renewal, creating an incentive for city residents to accept such projects, he said, adding that basements could serve as shopping centers and parking lots that would provide job opportunities and relieve traffic congestion.
The area is “the heart of Taipei” and the city “is like the human body; the person dies if the heart stops beating, but if the heart is strong, it beats faster,” Li said, adding that a special zone could solve the city’s economic, traffic and social issues.
Li’s “3Ps” — “personality, policy and performance” — are all better than those of incumbent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), he said when asked about his chances against Ko.
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