Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday said she would make Taipei a more globalized capital if she is elected the city’s mayor this year.
Lu made the remark on the sidelines of a televised campaign platform presentation held by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to give her and mayoral hopeful Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) an opportunity to present their political views.
In response to media queries about Taiwan losing four diplomatic allies since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in May 2016, Lu said: “I think the blame should not be on Tsai.”
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“[The losses] are completely the result of Beijing maliciously suppressing Taiwan, to isolate Taiwan and shame us,” Lu said. “We should share the anger and hatred against our common enemy.”
Taiwan needs to come up with a way to use its advantages to implement “substantive diplomacy,” Lu said, adding that she would make Taipei a global metropolis and try to form a league with capitals of peace-loving democratic countries if she is elected Taipei mayor.
Lu and Yao presented different plans for Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) and differed on whether to provide subsidies or directly provide services in several areas.
Songshan airport is Taipei’s gateway to the world and serves a practical purpose while Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s expansion project remains unfinished, Lu said, adding that its air defense identification zone is important for national defense.
Proposing to abolish the airport and build a central park, Yao said that it causes air pollution, obstructs the city’s northbound and southbound traffic, causes traffic congestion in Neihu District (內湖) and limits the scope of urban renewal, as building heights near airports are restricted.
The airport might even increase the risk of a terrorist attack, Yao said, adding that national defense could be provided by the air force in Hsinchu.
Yao also said that he would give young parents with a second child additional subsidies to address the nation’s low birthrate problem, and offer young people subsidies so they could rent apartments in the city.
Lu said that the city government should make better use of vacant land and empty houses in the city; provide more services, including childcare facilities, preschools and daycare centers for older people; and cooperate with nearby cities or counties if there is not enough public land in Taipei for public housing projects.
Yao proposed a “Tamsui River (淡水河) Skyline Project” to renovate the city’s west, while Lu said she would merge the city’s two funeral parlors into an “intelligent scientific funeral park” and establish a “world religion park.”
Lu also said she would reinstate Double Ninth Festival cash payments to the city’s elderly residents.
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