Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai released a new book "Kaohsiung, Tight Tight: 2314 Days of Extreme Transformation" and talked about the Hong Kong city's transformation process. Former President Tsai Ing-wen jokingly described in the book that Chen Qimai, who is extremely efficient at work, is like "Su Tseng-chang with hair." Chen often made "night raids" to call for construction and support, and he also had a way to deal with it. "For a person who is about to fall asleep, isn't this causing trouble for me? But I am also very cunning!"
Chen Qimai held his first book launch event in Taipei yesterday, and invited President Lai Ching-te, Dean of Academia Sinica Chen Jianren, Taiwan-Japan Relations Association President Hsieh Chang-ting, and Executive Yuan Councilor Chen Shih-chung to attend the event. The second press conference is planned to be held in Kaohsiung on the 6th, and will invite Tsai Ing-wen, former Executive President Su Tseng-chang, and Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Lai Ruilong to attend.
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With the title "The beauty of experiencing setbacks is more dazzling than the bright stars," Tsai Ing-wen recalled in the recommended article that after she took over as the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in 2008, she invited Chen Qimai to serve as deputy secretary-general. The "Qimai characteristics" that everyone is now familiar with, such as many phone calls, fast pace, and high requirements for policies and details, actually she experienced very deeply early on. Those were not easy days. Step by step, we regained the people's trust in the DPP and got out of the trough step by step.
Tsai Ing-wen said that Chen Qimai later told him that he wanted to run for mayor of Kaohsiung. It was a wish that had been in his heart for a long time. He had made a lot of preparations and was ready, but his life and destiny had to wait a little longer. It was another difficult day for Chen Qimai to return to the Executive Yuan as Vice President. At first, some people joked that it was a "league of losers," but he did not spend time responding to these comments. Instead, he did everything well one by one, from preventing African swine fever, COVID-19 epidemic prevention, forming a national mask team, etc., as well as many inter-departmental coordination work, and always stood on the front line.
Tsai Ing-wen said that in 2020, Chen Qimai finally had the opportunity to return to serve in his hometown where his "life was hanging on the line". In those years, the entire city of Kaohsiung was in motion, and her feelings may be deeper. Because when Chen Qimai was in the Executive Yuan, his phone calls were mainly to Su Zhenchang, but after returning to Kaohsiung, he suddenly had many more calls to himself. "Sometimes I feel a little nervous when I see his calls. But I know that every call he makes is for Kaohsiung."
In addition, Tsai Ing-wen specifically mentioned in an interview, "Every time Chen Qimai told me what he was doing, I always thought it would be a few years later, right? I didn't expect that he would complete it all at once!" In her eyes, Chen Qimai is like "Su Zhenchang with hair." The two have similar work styles and sympathize with each other.
Recalling Chen Qimai's frequent "night raids", Tsai Ing-wen said angrily and amusingly, "He always calls in the middle of the night, when people want to sleep, and forces you to write down what he says. How painful it is!"
Tsai Ing-wen pointed out that Chen Qimai talked in detail on the phone from beginning to end, "For a person who is about to fall asleep, isn't this causing trouble for me? But I am also very cunning!" She shared that her response principle is to never negotiate or make decisions when her head is unclear, so she would first reply, "Okay, I will ask a few people and then talk about it." She would write it down first, and then ask her staff to deal with it when her mind is clear the next morning.
