Campaigning among Taipei mayoral candidates is heating up, ahead of local elections at the end of November. On Sunday, the DPP’s candidate Chen Shih-chung announced plans to build 40,000 new apartment units for young people in four years to encourage people to move back to the capital. Meanwhile, Huang Shan-shan quit her post as deputy mayor of Taipei and threw her hat in the ring. Though she’s running as an independent, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, who is the chairman of the TPP, is endorsing her bid. Ko’s department heads as well as KMT and DPP borough chiefs all showed up at her press conference to cheer her on.
The DPP’s Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung today introduced his latest housing policy.
Chen Shih-chung
DPP Mayoral Candidate
Everyone feels puzzled as you can see over the past several years, Taipei has been losing residents. It’s gone from 2.7 million to 2.46 million. The goal of my housing policy is to encourage young people to come back. Housing costs should not be too expensive. Young people should be able to pursue careers and have a good life. I promise that during my term, we will reach the international standard of having 6% of the city’s housing made up of social housing, or 57,000 units of social housing. So we will build 40,000 apartment units in the next four years.
Chen’s housing policy aims to greatly dispel the capital’s negative reputation as a town of renters that puts property ownership out of the reach of ordinary people, with policies to help older adults, young people and the disadvantaged.
Chen Shih-chung
DPP Mayoral Candidate
Money is still the most important thing. Of course to increase capital, you have to invest money, but fundamentally with young people if we throw some money at this, it will encourage them to consume, and this kind of economic cycle will help not only young people, but also the social economy.
As Chen was holding his briefing at the DPP’s central headquarters, his opponent Huang Shan-shan was also holding a press conference announcing she would officially throw her hat in the ring for Taipei mayor.
Huang Shan-shan
Independent Taipei mayoral candidate
Diligence and integrity are my beliefs and they are also new values for Taipei. They are actions we take every day to create a clean, transparent, fair and just Taipei. This is my life’s mission. There is nothing that is impossible.
The event attracted over 500 supporters. Aside from TPP candidates, Ko also brought his top department heads who all stood in a line.
Ko Wen-je
Taipei mayor
All infrastructure derives from diligent administration, and all kinds of progress originates from the system. We underwent untold hardships to establish this political culture and system. I hope someone will continue to build them and allow them to flourish. I think Huang Shan-shan is the best candidate.
Although the KMT threatened to discipline members who broke ranks, there were still KMT borough chiefs who came to the event to show support.
Weng Hung-yuan
KMT borough chief in Daan District
Huang Shan-shan has a mission for Taipei City. I wish her elected with a high number of votes. I don’t care if I get expelled from the party. That’s none of my concern.
With Huang officially joining the Taipei mayoral race, the already fierce election campaigning will get even more intense.
