《TAIPEI TIMES》 Ko praises Hsinchu mayor’s record

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je （柯文哲） yesterday during a visit to Hsinchu City praised Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien （林智堅） for rapidly developing Ko’s hometown.

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Ko led Taipei City Government officials on a one-day visit to Hsinchu to exchange municipal administration experiences with Lin and the Hsinchu City Government.

The trip is likely to have been Ko’s last official exchange visit to another city or county in his capacity as Taipei mayor.

Lin, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, said that Hsinchu is proud of Ko’s achievements and his success in becoming Taipei mayor, before going into a closed-door meeting between the two mayors and city officials.

Hsinchu has “three highs and one low” — high average salaries and purchasing power; a high education level; the highest birthrate in the nation for 11 consecutive years; and the nation’s lowest average age at 38 years, Lin said.

Ko’s parents and relatives still live in Hsinchu, the Taipei mayor said, adding that conducting his last administrative exchange there had symbolic meaning for him.

Many people have well-paying jobs at the Hsinchu Science Park and high salaries lead to high purchasing power, Ko said, adding that the city’s high incomes and the educational achievement have created a unique culture, differentiating it from other places in Taiwan.

Ko praised Lin for his hard work and efficiency in the execution of his duties, despite being a relatively young mayor.

His parents often tell him about Lin’s good performance, Ko said.

Every time he visits Hsinchu, he finds the city so developed that he almost cannot recognize the roads he used to know, he said.

When asked whether he implied that he supports Ko in the mayoral election on Nov. 24 by saying that Ko is a source of pride for Hsinchu, Lin evaded the question and said that the city welcomes Ko and hopes that he will visit the Hsinchu 300 Expo.

The expo highlights the Taiwanese spirit embodied by Wang Shih-chieh （王世傑）,who contributed to the development of Hsinchu 300 years ago.

Wang in 1718 brought a group of ethnic Han from his hometown in China’s Fujian Province to the Hsinchu area, where they cultivated the land and funded construction of several popular temples.

The same spirit can be seen in Ko, such as his persistence in the face of difficulties, his diligence and his hard-working attitude, Lin said.

However, the main purpose of the meeting is for the municipalities to learn from each other, so the public should not mistakenly associate it with the elections, he said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES