Controversy arises over Hsinchu Mayor Gao Hongan’s misappropriation of education funds to host baseball stadium activities. Scholars: Online scolding does not mean a vote turnaround

Hsinchu Mayor Gao Hongan misappropriated 30 million from education funds to hold a baseball stadium opening event. Will he lose votes? Huang Zhenxiang, a scholar at Tsinghua University, reminded that online criticism does not mean a vote reversal.

Hsinchu City's Gaohong'an City Government spent 30 million yuan to hold a baseball stadium reopening event. It was questioned that it was misappropriating funds for drinking fresh milk and training grassroots athletes. Political commentators, including the Democratic Party and the Internet, criticized it. Huang Zhenxiang, a scholar at Tsinghua University, issued an article reminding that if this controversy is immediately thought to cause Hsinchu City voters to collectively turn their tables, that would be looking at Hsinchu politics too simply. He also reminded that online criticism does not mean a vote reversal, which is the most interesting place to observe Hsinchu politics.

Huang Zhenxiang mentioned that in public polls from early to mid-September, Gao Hongan still maintained a clear lead. This shows that there is currently no evidence to show that "as soon as these controversies broke out, Gao Hongan's support collapsed." The baseball field was excavated for several years, and the Big Secret Treasure was quarreled for several years. Lin Zhijian later did not sue the parties involved in profiteering, but the city government decided to reconsider. The baseball field improvements have been inspected and are ready to be re-opened. This matter has long been no longer just an engineering problem, but has become a political myth with complete scripts for each of blue, green and white.

What those who support Gao Hongan see is that "she finally dealt with the mess", while those who oppose her see that "it took 4 years of digging to finally hold a 30 million opening show." The same thing, both sides live in completely different movies.

Huang Zhenxiang believes that politics is not a final exam, where 15 points will be deducted for 3 wrong questions, and 15 points will be deducted for 5 wrong questions. Party identity, blue-white cooperation, incumbency advantage, local organization, and candidate image all outlive these controversies. If citizens think her municipal performance is worthy of recognition, they will vote for her; if they think issues such as baseball stadiums, budget utilization, and free parking lots are more important, this will also be reflected in their votes. But if Hsinchu politics were really that simple, there would probably be no need for elections in the next few years. The mayor could be decided by just looking at Facebook and clicking on the numbers.