Is Miaoli County About to Change Hands? Chen Pin-an Challenges One-Party Dominance: Let Miaoli Have Its First Party Rotation!

This episode features an interview with Chen Pin-an, a candidate for Miaoli County Magistrate. Chen stated that Miaoli is the only county in western Taiwan that has never experienced a change in ruling party, which he believes is a sign of immature democracy. He pointed out that due to the spillover effect from the Hsinchu Science Park, a large number of young families and engineers have moved into Miaoli, with the population of Toufen and Zhunan now exceeding 200,000, meaning Miaoli's development requires new opportunities. He mentioned the "Greater Silicon Valley Plan" proposed by President Lai Ching-te and stated that his trip to the United States aims to learn from Silicon Valley companies' experiences in talent cultivation, technological development, and industrial layout, with the goal of turning Miaoli into a prosperous base for the tech industry. Chen also emphasized the potential for cooperation between Miaoli and the U.S. in urban governance and talent exchange, and criticized the current magistrate, Chung Tung-chin, for his inadequacy in securing central government resources and proposing forward-looking infrastructure. He promised that if elected, he would prioritize the improvement of medical resources and promote a policy of full subsidies for senior citizens' health insurance premiums to achieve equitable development in Miaoli.

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Miaoli is actually the only county in western Taiwan that has never had a change in ruling party. We say that a change in ruling party is desirable because if there is competition—whether between parties or candidates—a change in power represents a mature democracy. News Hardcore, the most satisfying way to listen to the news. I am your host, Stan, and welcome to the show. We are currently at the West Coast Summer Conference, and I am here with Miaoli County Magistrate candidate Chen Pin-an.

Hello, I am Miaoli County Magistrate candidate Chen Pin-an.

Hello everyone.

Thank you very much for agreeing to this interview. First, I would like to ask, what is your take on this West Coast Summer Conference?

I am very happy to be in the United States, especially at the West Coast Summer Conference. There are so many good American friends here who are Taiwanese, and they all care deeply about Taiwan's politics. In fact, back in 2018, when I was running for councilor, there were Taiwanese people in the U.S. who helped make phone calls to get out the vote. So, this trip is a journey of gratitude. I am truly thankful to so many Taiwanese in the U.S. for caring about Taiwan's politics and being willing to take action.

Because Miaoli has a somewhat negative stereotype in Taiwan—it is commonly referred to as the "Miaoli Kingdom"—and there are issues that may be related to organized crime, which is something everyone knows.

I would like to ask, as a candidate for Miaoli County Magistrate, what is your platform? And how do you... I heard a phrase today: "Give the people of Miaoli a better choice." Why should they choose Chen Pin-an?

Yes, I think this needs to be discussed starting from the past. Miaoli is actually the only county or city in western Taiwan that has never experienced a change in ruling party. We say that a change in ruling party is desirable because if there is competition—whether between parties or candidates—and if a change in power occurs, it signifies that the local democracy is mature. However, Miaoli County currently remains a place where one party is dominant, which is very difficult for a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate to break through. But Miaoli's development is no longer what it used to be. Due to the spillover effects from the Hsinchu Science Park, a great number of young families and engineers have moved to Miaoli. The population of Toufen and Zhunan now exceeds 200,000, and since Miaoli has a total population of only about 500,000, many people now hope for different development, progress, and urbanization in Miaoli. This requires more support from the central government, as well as assistance and proactive planning from the local government. Therefore, I believe this is a critical moment for Miaoli to undergo a transformation.

President Lai Ching-te has proposed a 'Great Silicon Valley Plan' for Miaoli and the entire Taoyuan-Hsinchu-Miaoli region. This Great Silicon Valley Plan is also a very important part of my work during this visit to the United States. I hope to learn from key aspects of major companies in Silicon Valley, such as talent cultivation, technological development, and overall industrial layout. We all hope that Taiwan's high-tech industry can establish a firm foothold globally. This is already the case; TSMC is truly very well-known in the United States, and Micron is currently the largest foreign investor in Taiwan. Therefore, whether in terms of the economy or the tech industry, Taiwan and the United States have a very good partnership. I also believe that Taiwan's international status is becoming increasingly mature and significant due to our technological development. Miaoli will also be one of the keys to this wave of technological trends. We have good water and abundant electricity, and I believe that in the future, we will be an excellent, prosperous base for this tech industry. So, I hope that while Silicon Valley develops its experience, Miaoli can also be prepared. In this way, I can persuade more voters that I am the better candidate—one who has a more international perspective and a better understanding of the tech industry.

Does Miaoli have any sister city relationships with the U.S.?

Currently, there are none.

Do you think it is worth having them?

I think it is worth it. This afternoon, I met with several officials from cities in California, and I am truly grateful to them for sharing their experience in city governance in the U.S. Some cities share certain administrative resources, while others may not have their own police departments, so they must outsource these services to professional groups. For example, if they don't have a fire department or a police department because they weren't part of the original structure, they have to outsource them. This has given me a lot of inspiration. Therefore, I think if there is an opportunity, we should allow Miaoli—whether it's Miaoli County or other townships and cities—to have good exchanges with the U.S. I believe there could be discussions on talent, right? I even know that in Silicon Valley, for the sake of Taiwan's tech development, many engineers working there might want to come to TSMC or related industries to take on management roles or regional manager positions. So, can we in Taiwan prepare things like the Employment Gold Card? The Overseas Community Affairs Council has a related system; if foreigners are willing to come, or if it's the second generation of our overseas compatriots, they can come to Taiwan through this system to work and settle down. This is actually a very good way to interact and exchange talent. Therefore, whether it's sister cities or the Employment Gold Card, I believe it can make the industrial development and the overall relationship between Taiwan and the U.S. better and better.

You just mentioned that Miaoli is currently the only place that has never experienced a party turnover, the only county in western Taiwan that has never seen a change in ruling parties. In your view, given that the Kuomintang has been in power for a very long time, what are some of the political platforms and policies that they have handled very poorly? You need to first target these policies and performance records for revision.

Simply put, while Miaoli's financial condition is currently poor, it was even worse in the past. For instance, during the 2014 election, Hsu Yao-chang was elected as the previous magistrate. After taking office, Magistrate Hsu found that the drawers were empty—meaning how could there be so much debt, with massive borrowing and an inability to even pay civil servants' salaries? This indicates that the financial problem was caused by a lack of strict budgeting over the past twenty-plus years. Now, of course, after Magistrate Hsu took office, gradually from 2014 to 2016, and after President Tsai Ing-wen became president, the central government at the time assisted Miaoli with many construction projects and also adjusted Miaoli's current financial condition. However, over the past four years under the current Magistrate Chung Tung-chin, this situation is still under control, meaning our finances are controlled, so the money cannot be autonomous—this is actually a very non-autonomous state. Furthermore, I also feel that the current government led by Magistrate Chung Tung-chin has not proposed better and more visionary related construction projects for Miaoli, leading to a bit of a breakdown in central government support. Magistrate Hsu received strong support from the central government at that time; whether it was the Tsai Ing-wen administration or the Lai Ching-te administration, even though they are central governments led by the Democratic Progressive Party, they did not distinguish between blue and green, and still supported Miaoli's construction just the same. Moreover, many of these did not require matching funds—you just proposed a good plan, and if everyone felt it was needed, we would give you the construction. But the current government under Magistrate Chung Tung-chin actually finds it very difficult to obtain central resources. This is not due to blue-and-green political divisions, but because his plans are insufficiently mature, or even lack vision, and fail to keep pace with Miaoli's development. I really find this very regrettable.

Therefore, regarding this point, for example, in terms of medical resources, we directly—although I am not yet county magistrate—spoke directly to the central government, stating that what our locality needs most right now is the upgrading of medical resources. I also successfully secured 2.1 billion NTD in funding for the acute and critical care medical building of the Ministry of Health and Welfare Miaoli Hospital, which is Miaoli's only public hospital. I want everyone to know that although I have served two terms as a county councilor, I have the vision of a county magistrate and the mindset and capability to manage the governance of Miaoli County. I started making improvements from the areas most needed and most hoped for by everyone. Moreover, I have the ability to communicate with the central government so that it can promptly provide us with resources to address the issue of insufficient medical resources. This is the first point.

Furthermore, Miaoli has quite a number of elderly residents. This includes my hope to make the people of Miaoli feel fairly treated. The current magistrate, Chung Tung-chin, proposed a welfare policy where only elderly residents aged 80 and above have free health insurance premiums. I believe that welfare policies should not result in differential treatment based on which county or city you live in. Now that almost every county and city is offering free health insurance premiums for elderly residents aged 65 and above, the Miaoli County Government should shoulder this responsibility and let everyone know that although our finances are a bit tighter, we still have sufficient funds to take care of everyone.

It is about striving for construction, striving for more construction; this is something our county magistrate should naturally strive for, being able to rely on the central government without spending our own money—of course, trying our best not to spend our own money. But with the money we do have, we should allow our fellow townspeople, our elders, and others to enjoy welfare on par with other counties and cities, whether it is Taichung or Nantou. I think that in recent years, when both elderly welfare and children's welfare lag behind other counties and cities by a substantial margin, the people will naturally vote with their feet, leave, and move to other counties and cities. This is extremely unfair to Miaoli. Therefore, we hope to make Miaoli feel like we are finally being taken care of, and that we are a much fairer place.

Thank you very much, Council Member Chen, and I wish you all the best.

I also hope that the people of Miaoli can have a better choice and see a change of ruling party in Miaoli County, meaning giving someone else a chance to govern.

Thank you.

Thank you, Pin-an.

Thank you everyone.

Keep it up.

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