At the end of the year, the county and mayor elections are in the final countdown. President Lai Ching-te, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party, launched Taiwan's auxiliary elections, playing the "central-local cooperation card" and stated, "What I need most is a county mayor who can cooperate, not a county mayor who simply stands in a confrontational position!" The sharp contrast between "cooperation to promote construction" and "opposition for the sake of opposition" is a key strategy to win the approval of voters.
This wave of discussion first appeared at the regular meeting of the Democratic Progressive Party in Kaohsiung on August 12. When Lai Ching-te recommended mayoral candidate Lai Ruilong, he said that Presidents Chen Shui-bian and Tsai Ing-wen have tried their best to support Kaohsiung in the past. Mayors Hsieh Chang-ting, Chen Ju or Chen Qimai have all cooperated with the central government, and progress can only be seen. In the future, he will definitely redouble his support and let Lai Ruilong lead Kaohsiung towards the international stage. Lai Ching-te emphasized that as president, he hopes for balanced development in Taiwan, but what he needs most are county and mayors who can cooperate, rather than people who simply take a confrontational stance.
After moving to Central Taiwan, demands for "cooperation" continued to intensify. When Lai Ching-te went to Taichung to support the mayoral candidate He Xinchun, he emphasized that he hoped that the future mayor of Taichung could "cooperate seamlessly" with the central government, which is related to the future of Taichung and Taiwan's national security and economic growth; Lai also spoke to Chen Pin, the candidate for Miaoli County Mayor, on the same day When An was elected, he even said bluntly: "A good county magistrate must have the ability to cooperate with the central government." He detailed that the central government has invested more than 200 billion yuan in Miaoli and a number of medical and transportation projects in the past 10 years, and promised that if Chen Pinan needs it in the future, the central government will give her full support.
In northern Taiwan and eastern Taiwan, Lai Ching-te also locked in the role of a cooperation hub. In Taoyuan, he emphasized that he hopes the next mayor can cooperate with the central government. Taoyuan is crucial for Taiwan to maintain its status as a global AI center, and a mayor who can pour central resources into Taoyuan is needed. When Lai Qingde came to Taitung, he also declared that "construction has no distinction between party affiliation and people's needs have no color." He named Taitung County Mayor candidate Chen Ying as a bridge between the central and local governments. The central government will fully support the future development of Taitung.
In addition to cooperation in resources, Lai Qingde also stated in Yunlin when he supported the party candidate for county magistrate Liu Jianguo that in the face of increasingly severe external threats, the government will stick to national security, which requires the joint support of Congress and public opinion. He also pointed out that the Zhang family legislators did not stand for Taiwan at the critical moment, but instead obeyed the party's will and caused social disputes. In summary, Lai Ching-te's speech set the tone of the election campaign as a value showdown between "forward construction" and "opposition to idling", strongly urging voters to agree.
