By Joyce Weng

A live televised debate for Kaohsiung mayoral election was held on 10th November. The two main candidates are former lawmakers Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) for the DPP and Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) for the KMT. Two independents, former Taipei City Councilor Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳) and ex-legislator Su Ying-kuei (蘇盈貴), also featured in the debate.

The economy was the main topic of the debate. In the presentation, Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) said Kaohsiung was once a jewel in Taiwan’s crown, but then it has become a sleeping giant due to its economy, making people lose their hopes. He emphasized that Kaohsiung has an advantage in air and marine transportation, and it should be moving ahead on those strengths.

Moreover, Han said that the city needs a new mayor that will lead its economic revival and make Kaohsiung again. However, the netizen seemed not to be satisfied with Han’s presentation. Some people think Han did not really propose the good policies for Kaohsiung but only slogans and manifestos. Han looked tired during the debate, and he did lose the plot. For this, he told the reporter that he only had 4-hour sleep before the debate due to the tight schedule.

Another controversy of the debate was that Chen Chi-mai was accused that he might have wore an earphone when he was presenting, indicating that Chen might me “directed.” For this, Chen responded on Facebook, saying that “As a doctor, I wear only stethoscope. I didn’t even bring my cell phone on stage.” Chen’s team also said it was a smear campaign from the rival team.