Local governments – Taiwan Insight

Not A New Story: Tracing the History of Corruption in Tainan

20 April 2023 Adrian Chiu

Written by Jonathan Leung. Earlier this year, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Tainan City Council, Chiu Li-li and Lin Chih-chan, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in a bribery case related to the speaker election last December. However, this is not the first time incidents concerning the speaker election in Tainan City Council have made headlines. Accidents and controversies have arisen several times, drawing attention to the Tainan City Council’s speaker election held every four years in December.

Reaching Beyond Traditional Voting Blocs: Taiwan’s DPP Launches Campaign in the Matsu Islands

30 March 2022 Yi Yu Lai

Written by Wen Lii. As Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) enters its primaries ahead of the November 2022 midterm elections, DPP candidates in the Matsu Islands face a different challenge: the party has never nominated candidates for local posts in Matsu. The county has long been considered a stronghold for the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). The DPP could potentially nominate ten or more candidates in Matsu at various levels of government, although nominations are yet to be finalised until May or June. The upcoming races will mark a historic first for the DPP’s participation in these local posts in Matsu. This will signal an unprecedented scale and scope for DPP campaign activities in Matsu, with the opportunity to further solidify grassroots support.

COVID-19 Ushered in a New Era of Urban Governance in Taiwan

23 September 2021 Editor

Written by Roman Shemakov. As the metabolic flow of a city is commandeered by a virus, urban sensing is amplified. The proximity of animals, people, and capital in markets is one of the foundational functions of city life. Random evolutions of ingenuity, community, and viruses thus become a natural by-product of urban proximity. Since the invention of every technology (and a city is certainly a technological mechanism) is also an invention of a new accident, we must think of viruses as a feature of cities, not an anomaly.

Something, Nothing, or Everything? The Recall Vote of DPP’s Taoyuan City Councillor Wang Hao-Yu

12 February 2021 Editor

Written by Chieh-chi Hsieh. On 16 January, Taoyuan city councillor Wang Hao-yu of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was revoked by a whopping 84,582 ‘in-favour’ ballots. This was a staggering contrast to the 16,292 ballots received that won him his re-election merely two years prior. This election makes Wang the first city councillor from one of Taiwan’s six special municipalities to be recalled. More importantly, one can tentatively make a case that this is an important success for opposition parties such as the Kuomintang (KMT) and other pan-blue parties (e.g., People First Party) regaining political clout against the incumbent DPP government.

Taiwan’s Local Government’s Strategy for Fighting COVID-19: From Imitation to Innovation

7 May 2020 Editor

Written by David G.H. Chen and Jou (Tender) Chang. The Taiwanese government’s quick and transparent response to the Coronavirus outbreak — a response that has cooperated with medical professionals and the whole of Taiwanese society — has attracted worldwide attention through their national-level epidemic prevention measures. However, the role of Taiwanese local government, which helps implements national policy, has received less attention. Local government deals with the front line of epidemic prevention work. Indeed, it is worth exploring how Taiwanese local governments, with their limited recourses, react to the novel Coronavirus

A “Blue Wave” or a “Green Flop”? Making Sense of Taiwan’s 2018 Local Elections

30 November 2018 Editor

Written by Vincent Wei-cheng Wang Taiwan’s 24 November 2018 local elections, in which voters elect mayors and magistrates, councilors, municipal heads, municipal councilors, village chiefs, and vote on ten referendums,