Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan has recently been caught up in the suspicion of his eldest son's privileges to go abroad at public expense and the controversy over his origins. Writer Zhao Xiaohui took stock of his political career and criticized Chiang Wanan for being promoted to the mayor of the capital early due to the aura of the Chiang family when he was still young. He lacked substantial actions. After taking office, he was ignored by the senior civil service system and even outsourced his brains to staff. He pointed out that the "political golden boy" packaged by the Kuomintang was actually just a "political baby" who did not dare to take responsibility and caused misfortune to the citizens of Taipei.
Zhao Xiaohui posted on Facebook today (10th) that Chiang Wanan’s political experience is very short, mainly serving as a legislator for two terms from 2016 to 2022. In the second term, he resigned after being elected as the mayor of Taipei, which lasted only 6 years. During his tenure as a legislator, he avoided committees with high political confrontation or high-intensity professional confrontations, such as defense, foreign affairs, finance, and internal affairs, and specialized in "social welfare and health environment." He cultivated his gentle image and cared about labor, food safety, and medical care, and quickly won the favor of middle voters and female voters.
Zhao Xiaohui continued that Jiang Wanan had opposed some amendments to the Labor Standards Law by the Democratic Progressive Party government to wash away the traditional "pro-capitalist" stereotype of the blue camp. At the same time, he supported the same-sex marriage bill to create an image of him as a young, modern, enlightened person who is not restricted by the traditional blue camp framework, spanning blue and green. However, he has not presided over major structural legal reforms. When faced with highly controversial political duels or major line conflicts within the party, Jiang Wanan mostly chooses to keep a low profile, express his stance mildly, or even be absent or not dance with the party group. Although this strategy preserves his perfect image, it exposes his mediocre character who "does not dare to take political risks and has no core values."
Zhao Xiaohui said that in the resume of party and league cadres, Jiang Wanan served as "deputy secretary-general" and "secretary-general" but his term was short. He was responsible for party and league affairs and external speeches. Compared with the "general call", he was less responsible for the highest-level political negotiations between the government and the opposition. Next, he served as the convener of the Committee on Social Welfare, Health and Environment, which decided which bills to review and which ministries to invite to make special reports. He has indeed created a huge political voice on the issues of labor law revision (Wan'an exercise) and pig withdrawal.
Zhao Xiaohui mentioned that in the Kuomintang caucus, the real "black face" and the main force of negotiations is mostly played by the "general call". This is the "dirty work in the deep water area". It is responsible for quarreling and breaking up, negotiating with the ministries of the Executive Yuan, and dealing with other parties in secret rooms. However, Jiang Wanan has never served as a "general caller". It is speculated that the Kuomintang wants to protect him as the "golden boy" and prevent him from being stained with political dust and damaging his image. In addition, the fact that Jiang Wanan is praised as a member of the Central Standing Committee within the party is just a symbol of the Kuomintang’s regard for him as the “Chiang family god”. He still rarely participates in real deep-water decision-making of party affairs.
Zhao Xiaohui analyzed that Chiang Wanan’s six years of experience in the Legislative Yuan focused on lightweight duties such as “speaking, presiding, and expressing opinions,” which did not help him accumulate the administrative capabilities needed to be qualified as Taipei mayor. Before Chiang Wanan took office as mayor of Taipei, he had not managed any administrative agency. His "unfamiliarity" with Taipei's municipal administration was an inevitable result. If a policy continues to be implemented, it will involve conflicts of interest among the Land Bureau, Urban Development Bureau, and Works Bureau, and it will also have to face grassroots backlash from grassroots leaders. Because Jiang Wanan lacks experience in deep-water areas, the outside world generally believes that Li Sichuan does most of the work.
Zhao Xiaohui bluntly said that this group of civil servants in the Taipei City Government are the smartest, most sophisticated, and the most knowledgeable "high-level technocrats" in Taiwan. Many senior civil servants in bureaus have been in the Taipei City Government for 20 or 30 years, and have served successively as Ma Ying-jeou, Hao Longbin, and Ke Wenzhe. When a handsome young mayor with no administrative experience takes office, it is easy for these senior civil servants to use information asymmetry to deceive Jiang Wanan. When they report to Jiang Wanan, they will throw out dense "administration according to law" provisions, past administrative practices, and a bunch of professional-looking statistical charts. Because Jiang Wanan has no practical experience in administrative governance, he doesn't know which regulations actually have administrative discretion, and he doesn't know which data is behind it. In order not to make mistakes, the only safety card he could do was to put the "standard answer" in his head when the civil servant stuffed it into his head. This is how "Jiang Manuscript Machine" came about.
She further compared the situation with the former mayor Ke Wenzhe who emphasized data, SOPs, and held a morning meeting at 7:30 every morning to call all the directors together. After Jiang Wanan took office, in order to show his "warm man" persona and his gentle personality that "doesn't like to offend others", he relaxed the high-intensity control that Ke Wenzhe had during his tenure. This was a great liberation for the civil service system that had been suppressed for eight years. When the mayor does not exert pressure, does not delete budgets during meetings, and asks questions about cheat sheets, the people below will naturally tend to choose the bureaucratic plan that is "the least conflicting, the least radical, and the most self-protective." This has led to frequent systematic loosening of screws in Taipei City's food safety, urban maintenance, and public security.
Zhao Xiaohui lamented that Jiang Wanan’s qualifications were too young and his training was insufficient. Political veteran Ke Jianming, the former chief convenor of the Democratic Progressive Party, had already seen through it at a glance. After Chiang Wanan gave up the race for Taipei mayor in 2018, Ke Jianming wrote a "Letter to Chiang Wanan and the Kuomintang" for him, citing the strategy of "building walls high, hoarding food widely, and becoming king slowly" and encouraging Chiang Wanan by saying "it's okay to squat for a long time before jumping again". Practice is more important than pursuing short-term quick results.
Zhao Xiaohui believes that what Ke Jianming means is that Jiang Wanan should dig deep into the grassroots and build political capital. He should not show off his talents too early or rush to compete for a big position. He should first focus on supervision, experience in government affairs and accumulate social prestige in Congress, and there is no need to rush into a high-intensity single election. However, Jiang Wanan still "jumped" to become the mayor of Taipei. As a result, he suffered misfortune among Taipei citizens and became the laughing stock of the whole Taiwan. To put it bluntly, isn't it just greed for power? Unable to resist the aura of "the fourth generation of the Chiang family regaining the capital" or even "returning to power".
Zhao Xiaohui analyzed that Jiang Wanan certainly cannot become the second Ma Ying-jeou. Before becoming the mayor of Taipei, Ma Ying-jeou experienced the baptism of large national administrative agencies such as the chairman of the Research and Examination Committee, the deputy chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, and the minister of justice. He has very solid practical experience in the operation of the public service system, laws and regulations, and inter-ministerial communication. On the other hand, Jiang Wanan was a Silicon Valley lawyer and became a legislator directly after returning to Taiwan. His political nourishment relies on "political packaging" and the development of his political resume is like "dipping in soy sauce." How can he be compared with Ma Ying-jeou? A hollow leader will have a hollow staff team, who frequently provide bad ideas to Jiang Wanan, thinking that "not making mistakes" can replace "doing something", he really treats the citizens of Taipei as fools.
Finally, Zhao Xiaohui criticized him for his incompetence and lack of responsibility. He is accustomed to "outsourcing" and relies on support from his staff for everything. The Kuomintang packaged Jiang Wanan as a "political golden boy". In the end, he was just a "political baby", which made people shake their heads. "He is a good person, but not a good leader. He is a good father, but not a good mayor."
