Jiang Wanan’s Facebook page gained a lot of attention overnight. (Picture taken from Jiang Wanan’s Facebook)
[Reporter Dong Baiting/Reporting from Taipei] The Taipei mayoral election has set off a fierce battle over relevant public health and social prevention policies. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan raised questions on Facebook yesterday (3rd) about Democratic Progressive Party candidate Shen Boyang's past speeches, accusing him of advocating providing drugs and clean needles in the community. Shen Boyang countered by emphasizing that the "harm reduction policy" has been implemented for many years and should not be distorted to encourage drug abuse for the sake of elections. However, as soon as the post was published, more than 300,000 comments flooded in in a single day, and even attracted a large number of well-known Taiwanese writers and people from the arts and literary circles to express their opinions in the comment area, pointing out that the content of the speech was seriously out of touch with the municipal reality. In the face of overwhelming voices of doubt, there were also discussions in the community that some comments were suspected of being restricted, which in turn intensified the online debate and the number of comments continued to rise.
Poet Wu Huai-chen pointed out in his message that the Taipei City Government itself promotes the provision and exchange of clean needles in the city, which is part of Taiwan's AIDS harm reduction plan that has been implemented for many years. According to the "Taipei City Government Drug Harm Prevention Center Establishment Key Points", the director of the center is concurrently served by Mayor Chiang Wanan. Writer Sheng Haowei even asked directly: "Does the mayor know that he is also the director?"
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Poet Luo Yujia left a message criticizing that drug abuse harm reduction work has been implemented in Taiwan for more than 20 years, and Taiwan's public health profession should not be buried with it for the sake of elections. Food writer Hally Chen also questioned that if you use common sense, you will know that no one will openly support drug abuse, and criticized the city government team for their arrogant governance and concealment of troubles.
In addition, publisher Zheng Qinghong and a large number of netizens even dug out the 2021 Legislative Yuan Gazette, pointing out that the legislator who proposed the proposal to strengthen methadone substitution treatment and establish friendly treatment resources was none other than Jiang Wanan himself. Publisher Zheng Qinghong left a sarcastic message: "Taipei City really can't handle it if you take it seriously..."
Many netizens also repeatedly reposted messages in the message area to remind: "Director, I think I must have forgotten this." The content clearly listed that the Taipei City Health Bureau and relevant competent authorities provide clean needles to needle users, and opened the 2021 "Legislative Yuan Gazette" record. At that time, the proposer of "methadol substitution treatment for heroin addiction treatment", "establishing a friendly treatment environment" and "improving the accessibility and friendliness of relevant treatment resources" was none other than Jiang Wanan himself.
Writer Zhu Youxun even published a long article on his personal community, using the long holiday for primary school students as a metaphor for Chiang Wanan’s current state of power. Zhu Youxun pointed out that when people do not use their minds for a long time, their abilities will quickly deteriorate. Jiang Wanan seemed to have taken a long summer vacation in the past three years, leaving business to the heads of bureaus and public relations to his staff. He was only responsible for maintaining his body and appearance. Now that the election has started, I realize that I can’t remember the details of the municipal government, the responsibilities of each unit, and even the policies I have participated in. This is not just a simple intellectual gap, but the manifestation of three years of "lazy politics."
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