Lai Ruilong participated in the Youth Forum of Sun Yat-sen University and promised to catch up with the salary level of Beijing in 4 to 8 years.

Democratic Progressive Party Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Lai Ruilong went to Sun Yat-sen University to participate in the "2026 Mayoral Candidates Youth Forum" yesterday evening (1st). Young students raised issues such as salary, school integration, environment and other issues. Lai Ruilong responded that young people are willing to stay and compete for salary, hoping to catch up with the salary level in Taiwan in 4 to 8 years. The opponent Ke Zhien's match is expected to be held on the 14th.

Lai Ruilong accepted invitations from many youth and student union organizations such as the Taiwan Youth Thought Association and held a symposium with nearly a hundred young students at the School of Social Sciences of Sun Yat-sen University last night.

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Vice President of Sun Yat-sen University Guo Zhiwen said that he looked forward to allowing students to evaluate whether Lai Ruilong has enough ability to become a high-quality mayor of Kaohsiung through direct dialogue and questions. Chen Meihua, a distinguished professor of the Department of Sociology of Sun Yat-sen University, said that Sun Yat-sen University is an important youth and academic indicator in Kaohsiung, and youth are the future of the country. He looks forward to more exchanges between leaders and youth in the future.

The forum focuses on direct questions from young people. In addition to the candidates explaining the city's vision, young students and related professional youth groups are also arranged to ask questions on local governance issues. Topics cover higher education, industrial transformation, environmental pollution, energy, transportation, education, housing, culture, youth employment and national security, allowing young people to directly participate in discussions on local politics and urban governance.

Lai Ruilong mentioned his youth policy and promised to promote the formulation of the country's first comprehensive "Kaohsiung City Youth Development Autonomy Regulations", which clearly stipulates youth participation channels, cross-bureau reporting and proposal tracking mechanisms in the regulations.

Young people participating in the meeting pointed out that although the number of social housing in Kaohsiung has increased significantly, there is still a gap between the existing supply and the needs of the youth and industrial immigrants in northern Kaohsiung. Lai Ruilong said that he will continue to increase the construction of social housing and give priority to locations with convenient transportation such as those around the MRT. In addition, young people need more diverse industries and job opportunities to retain talents. He also proposed a goal of catching up with the salary level in the north of the platform in 4 to 8 years. He hopes that through industrial development and the increase of high-paying job opportunities, young people can stay in Kaohsiung and develop.

Regarding the merger plan between Sun Yat-sen University and Kaohsiung University, Lai Ruilong said that whether the two universities merge should fully respect the opinions of students and school administrators of both schools. It is within the scope of university autonomy and should be discussed and decided by the two universities. Regardless of whether the merger ultimately occurs, Sun Yat-sen University will fully support the development of Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung.