Lai Ching-te backs Huang Shih-chieh in Taoyuan, praises rival Chang Shan-chao's national experience

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) held its mobile Central Executive Committee meeting in Taoyuan City today, demonstrating the party's unity and strong ambition to sprint toward the local elections. DPP Chairperson and President Lai Ching-te personally presided over the meeting, focusing his rhetoric and attention on the Taoyuan mayoral race to strongly boost the party's nominated mayoral candidate, Huang Shih-je. In his speech, Lai pointed out that while incumbent Kuomintang (KMT) Taoyuan Mayor Chang San-cheng possesses national-level governance experience and talent, it is precisely for this reason that Chang is not actually suited to be confined to a local government as the mayor of Taoyuan. In contrast, Huang Shih-je—who is young, energetic, and has long cultivated roots locally—is truly the mayoral candidate who understands local needs and is best suited to lead Taoyuan City forward.

Reviewing Taoyuan City's recent political landscape and development trajectory, this industrial and commercial hub in northwestern Taiwan has always been a fiercely contested battleground for both the blue and green camps. Taoyuan boasts Taiwan's largest industrial output and an expanding immigrant population. With the opening of the Airport MRT, the advancement of the Aerotropolis project, and the development of various rezoning districts, Taoyuan has long transformed from a traditional agricultural county into a dynamic international logistics and technology metropolis. Against this developmental backdrop, the governance performance of successive Taoyuan mayors and the alternation of power between the blue and green parties have consistently captured Taiwan's political attention. By choosing to move its mobile Central Executive Committee meeting to Taoyuan, the DPP not only demonstrated its high regard for the Taoyuan election but also attempted to rally grassroots cohesion and highlight its candidate's local advantages and policy vision amidst a fierce electoral landscape through a joint rally of party and government elites.

When addressing incumbent Mayor Chang San-cheng of the opposing camp, Lai Ching-te displayed a high level of political offense and defense strategy. Lai did not completely dismiss Chang's personal professional abilities or his past experience serving in the central government, instead directly characterizing Chang as a "national governance talent." However, Lai pivoted by emphasizing that precisely because Chang possesses macro-level national governance experience, his vision and perspective should be placed at a higher national level rather than being tied down to the intricate administrative tasks of local government. This narrative skillfully transformed the opponent's credentials into a reason for unsuitability in local governance, while simultaneously highlighting the qualities a local leader should possess—a deep understanding of local contexts and local sentiment, rather than merely central bureaucratic experience—thereby shaping a contrast in leadership styles in the minds of voters.

In contrast to Chang's central government experience, party candidate Huang Shih-je, strongly endorsed by Lai, was given a completely different local positioning. Lai detailed Huang's personal traits, emphasizing that Huang is not only young and full of reformist vitality and passion, but more importantly, he is an authentic local son of Taoyuan. Huang has cultivated local roots for a long time. Whether through his performance in legal professionalism, his policy implementation capabilities accumulated through past central and local experiences, or his familiarity with large and small infrastructure projects and residents' needs across Taoyuan's districts, he has built a solid reputation at the grassroots level. Lai believes that what Taoyuan needs is a young leader who can roll up his sleeves, truly step into the grassroots to listen to public opinion, and seamlessly connect with the trajectory of local development, and Huang is the best candidate meeting these conditions.

Viewed from the strategic layout of the entire mobile Central Executive Committee meeting, the DPP's electoral axis in Taoyuan City is already very clear: pitting "deep local roots" against "parachuted national governance." As the election enters its final countdown, the competition between the blue and green camps in Taoyuan is bound to intensify. The Chang San-cheng camp holds the advantages of incumbent administrative resources and the halo of achievements from his central government tenure, while Huang Shih-je, with the strong endorsement of DPP Chairperson Lai, attempts to evoke Taoyuan citizens' sense of identity with generational alternation and local governance. This election is not merely a showdown between two candidates; it is also crucial to whether the DPP can retake lost territory in an important key constituency in northern Taiwan. Its subsequent impact and indicator significance for the national political landscape are worthy of continued high attention from all sectors.

(Fact source: Central News Agency)