Kuomintang Taoyuan Mayor Zhang Shanzheng (left) accepted an exclusive interview with Radio Asia host Xie Meiying (right). (Provided by Zhang Shanzheng Competition)
The 2026 nine-in-one election is becoming more and more popular. Taoyuan Mayor Zhang Shanzheng of the Kuomintang is seeking re-election. Today (27th), he posted on Facebook an exclusive interview with Taoyuan City Councilor Xie Meiying, who is also the host of Radio Asia. He detailed the policies he promoted during his term and talked freely. Transportation, MRT, TSMC's return to Longke Phase 3, building Taiwan's second sacred mountain to protect the country, social housing and other issues, also disclosed the details of TSMC's negotiations, emphasizing that it will continue to train the Executive President, Minister of Science and Technology, and Political Affairs Councilors to fully invest in Taoyuan Municipal Government.
Zhang Shanzheng pointed out that TSMC's entry into Longke in 2022 failed due to premature exposure and the lack of consent from some landowners. The city government subsequently visited the Zhuke Management Bureau and TSMC intensively to help solve the problem, eliminate landowners who were unwilling to expropriate, and adjusted the land, eventually expanding the area to more than 100 hectares. In the past two years, the city government has held more than 90 meetings to fight for recycled water from the central government, and "duck paddling" along the way to improve the conditions for entry, which made TSMC decide to return to Longtan.
Zhang Shanzheng said that in order to cooperate with the development of the third phase of Longke, the surrounding area must have space to accommodate upstream and downstream manufacturers and improve transportation. The city government is promoting the connection between New Westgate and National III, the widening of surrounding roads, and the urban planning and school planning of Pingzhen, so that local construction and the park can be perfectly matched. At the same time, in response to the demand for TSMC's AI chips, the city government is also actively promoting a high-end IC substrate area to help low-pollution advanced PCB manufacturers set up in Taoyuan and seize the opportunity to build Taiwan's second sacred mountain to protect the country.
Zhang Shanzheng mentioned that during his tenure, the Maternal and Childhood Bureau was established, and the six cities were the first to implement free nutritious lunches for primary and secondary schools. Faced with the national bus driver shortage that continues to be solved, Taoyuan added hundreds of drivers through "training and employment", with a shortage of 3%, the lowest among the six cities, and Taoyuan minibus 120 at the end of the year , will exceed 200 by the end of next year; the project time for the seven stations of the northern section of the MRT Green Line has been compressed from 7 years to 3 years and 8 months. Each station can be completed and accepted before the end of the year. The key signaling system is currently being calibrated with Germany's Siemens, and the northern section will be opened to traffic by the end of the year. We will work hard until the last moment.
As for the rumors that Taoyuan social housing construction has started at zero, Zhang Shanzheng emphasized that the total number of social housing units under construction in Taoyuan has exceeded 10,000, 60% of which were planned during his term. Considering the financial pressure on social housing, Taoyuan proposed "affordable housing" that can be obtained by the government for free through floor area ratio design to achieve a positive financial cycle.
