Hsu Tain-tsair

In thisTaiwanese name,thesurnameisHsu.

Hsu Tain-tsair
Hứa thiêm tài
Mayor of Tainan
In office 20 December 2001 – 25 December 2010
Preceded by	George Chang
Succeeded by	William Laias mayor of Tainan (special municipality)
Member of theLegislative Yuan
In office 11 March 2011 – 31 January 2016
Preceded by	William Lai
Succeeded by	Lin Chun-hsien
Constituency	4th constituency ofTainan City
In office 1 February 1993 – 20 December 2001
Constituency	Tainan Cityconstituency
Personal details
Born	(1951-01-23)23 January 1951 Guantian,Tainan County(now part of Tainan City), Taiwan
Political party	Democratic Progressive Party
Spouse	Hung Shu-chen
Residence(s)	Tainan City, Taiwan
Alma mater	Chinese Culture University Rutgers University Columbia University New School for Social Research
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Economist

Hsu Tain-tsair(Chinese:Hứa thiêm tài;pinyin:Xǔ Tiāncái;Wade–Giles:Hsǔ Tiēn-tsái;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Khó͘ Thiam-châi;born 23 January 1953) is aTaiwanesepolitician who served as the mayor ofTainan Cityfrom 2001 to 2010. Born inTainan County(now part of Tainan City), Hsu got hisPhD candidacyin economics in the United States, where he started participating in theindependence movement of Taiwan.He was placed on the blacklist ofKuomintangand was not allowed to return to Taiwan until 1990.

When Hsu returned to Taiwan, he joined theDemocratic Progressive Party(DPP). Having been elected legislator three times, Hsu is considered aprivy councilorto the DPP in the field of economics.He was nominated to run for the mayor of Tainan and was elected in 2001. During his terms as mayor, Hsu worked on public projects and encouraged tourism. For example, a police unit was established to facilitate tourists in 2007, and he also improved theenvironmentof the city.

In 2009, Hsu worked with the Tainan County government to push for a merger that would form aspecial municipality.The merger was set to take effect in December 2010, giving Hsu one additional year in his mayoral term. During the DPP primary election for the nomination of a new Tainan mayor in May, he lost toWilliam Laiby 12% of the votes. After Lai was elected mayor, Hsu later ran for Lai's seat as a member of Legislative Yuan and was finally elected.

Early years

After graduating from Duba Elementary School in Tainan County, Hsu attended Tsengwen Junior High School ( tằng văn trung học; now the Madou Junior High School), where he was a classmate of formerPresident of the Republic of China (Taiwan)Chen Shui-bianfor four years. He then attended theCheng Kung Senior High School.In 1976, Hsu got hisMaster of Economicsdegree from theChinese Culture Universityand started teaching banking the next year at the same school.

In 1982, Hsu went to the United States as aColumbia Universityexchange scholar. In the same year, he joined theWorld United Formosans for Independence,and he also served as theliterary editorfor the Taiwan Tribune. As a result, he was placed on theKuomintang's blacklist and was unable to return toTaiwan.He then earned hisPhD candidacyfrom theNew School for Social Research.In 1990, Hsu was invited to a meeting by PresidentLee Teng-huiand returned to Taiwan as aTaiwanese-Americanprofessor. With the influence of then-legislatorsChen Shui-bian,Peng Pai-hsien,Hung Chi-chang,andLu Hsiu-yi,the government relented and removed the restriction for Hsu to exit and enter the country, finally issuing him a new passport.

Hsu started helping members of theWorld United Formosans for Independencereturn to Taiwan in 1991. In 1992, after being nominated by theDemocratic Progressive Party(DPP), Hsu was elected to become a member of theLegislative Yuan.In 1995, he was not nominated by the DPP, but was still elected as an independent candidate. He lost the election for the office of mayor of Tainan in 1997 and instead became the secretary-general of the New National Coalition ( tân quốc gia liên tuyến ) shortly after the establishment of the organization. He was re-elected legislator in the1998 legislative election.Hsu stepped out of the New National Coalition and rejoined the DPP shortly after his re-election to the Legislative Yuan. He was nominated by the DPP Central Executive Committee as the party's candidate for the Tainan mayoral race.

Tainan mayoralty

Hsu was elected mayor of Tainan in 2001 and was re-elected to that post in 2004. In his terms as mayor, he focused on projects to beautify the city, set up cultural parks, and strive for major constructions. He worked to help the city profit from historical assets and restore Tainan's former splendor.He made 2007 Tainan's "year of culture and tourism" to promote Tainan's tourism attractions.His major mayoral achievements were the renovation of the city transportation system and overseeing the city's successful bids for the 2005 and 2006Taiwan Lantern Festivals,the 2007 International Chihsi Arts Festival,and the 2007 National Games of Taiwan ( toàn quốc vận động hội ). One of his major goals, the renovation of the Tainan Railway Station andNational Cheng Kung University,was scheduled to be completed during his term in office and has earned him high compliments.

Hsu supported a merger between Tainan City andTainan Countyto form aspecial municipality.TheExecutive Yuanpassed a resolution to upgrade the city, and the official merger will occur in December 2010. In January 2010, Hsu declared his candidacy in the 2010 municipal election.During the DPP primary election in May, he lost to fellow Tainan politicianWilliam Laiby 12% of the votes, ending his candidacy.

Development

During the DPPprimary electionfor thepresidential candidate's nomination,Hsu expressed that he "will not support the candidate that opposes the construction of anunderground railway systemin Tainan. "Then-PremierSu Tseng-changpromised that the construction would be financially supported by the central government if he were elected. As a result, Hsu openly supported Su in the primary election.

He also believes that in order to improve the competitive advantage of Taiwan, the government should review the distribution of resources between northern and southern Taiwan, with the purpose of balancing their development.Hsu, as a member of theDemocratic Progressive Party,also supports theindependence movement of Taiwan.Hsu thinks that theUnited Nations membership referendumis an important step for democracy.

While theNational Central Libraryis located inTaipei,Hsu strongly supports the establishment of a regional branch in Tainan City. The branch might be established inKaohsiung City,another southern city.Hsu, however, is confident about Tainan being chosen as the location for the new branch because of the transport convenience and academic resources of the region.

Environment

Under his term, the environment of the city greatly improved. Hsu started a program of having the city'sgarbage trucksring out brief English lessons in 2002.He promoted the use ofeco-friendlychopsticksby requiring government officials and teachers to use their own reusable chopsticks when dining, expressing that the goal of thecampaignis to reduce the use of disposable chopsticks by 100,000 pairs per day.

Under the Hsu administration, theChihkan Towerbecame the first smoke-free historical site in Taiwan

During his second term in office, Tainan City became the firstTaiwanesecity to enter theAlliance for Healthy Citiesof theWorld Health Organization.In addition, Tainan also became the first Taiwanese city to enter theGlobal Cities Dialogue.Hsu also believes that Tainan should become a city of international tourism and culture,and he is working towards that purpose. In September 2007, he spoke to the 2007 Asia-Pacific Cities Summit participants and stated that Tainan is blessed with natural, historical, cultural, and humanistic characteristics and that Tainan also possesses great conditions forhigh-tech,trade, and investment development.

Hsu worked to make Tainan asmoke-freeenvironment. After the successful ban on smoking in public areas such as shopping centers, he pushed through the ban on smoking in historical sites.TheChihkan Towerbecame the first smoke-free historical site in Taiwan after the passing of the regulation in October 2007. Other historical sites covered by the regulation includeTainan Confucian Temple,Fort Zeelandia,andEternal Golden Castle.

In January 2008, the government of Tainan started an operation to clean updioxin-contaminated soil around the site of a defunct factory of Taiwan Alkali Industrial Corp ( đài dảm công tư ). The Hsu administration was the first to take action since 1982 when the government became aware of themercuryconcentrations.

Law enforcement

Due to an accidental killing of a teenage girl, while trying to shoot apsychoticsuspect, the Tainan City Police Bureau made a decision to develop a special kind ofbatonin 2006. When dealing with suspects withoutfirearms,police officers are expected to use the baton first in order to reduce accidents. To commemorate the girl who died, Mayor Hsu named the baton after her.

In September 2007, the Tourism Mounted Police Unit of Tainan (Chinese:Đài nam thị quan quang kỵ cảnh đội) was established to attract tourists. The members of the unit wear green uniforms and ride bicycles around the city on theweekends.They facilitate tourists and, at the same time, try to reducecrime rate.

Criticism

After the DPP nominated Hsu as the 2001 Tainan mayoral race candidate, protests led by supporters of the then-incumbent mayorGeorge Chang,who is also a member of the DPP, arose. The protesters called Hsu abetrayerof the party as he left the party in 1995. They showed their disapproval of the party's choice by burning their party membership cards.

The prevention ofdengue feverin Taiwan was always most successful in Tainan City. In 2007, however, outbreaks in the city were almost unstoppable. The fever outbreaks originally occurred only inAnnan District,where the first case was reported in June. The health department failed to control the spread of the fever, and all six districts ended up having confirmed cases. There was also an outbreak in anold soldiers' home.On August 22, Mayor Hsu apologized for the disastrous outbreak of dengue fever; he announced that the health department would be reorganized and new officials would be appointed in six months.

Mayoral scandals

While the then-mayor of TaipeiMa Ying-jeouwas indicted for alleged misuse of "special allowance fund," prosecutors dropped Hsu Tain-tsair's case in March 2007.However, on April 10, 2007, Hsu was indicted by prosecutors for his alleged involvement in a constructionscandaland violations of the Government Procurement Act (Chinese:Chính phủ thải cấu pháp). The scandal was broken by the Tainan City councillor Hsieh Long-chieh ( tạ long giới ) in May 2006 during a council meeting.

In April 2007, Hsu was indicted by the Tainan prosecutors. In their statement of charges, the prosecutors accused Hsu of money grafting in anunderground cityconstruction project. According to Hsu, the prosecutors heavily used the testimonies of people who were convicted of crime. In August 2009, Hsu was foundnot guiltyby the Tainan District Court.

Electoral history

Tainan City legislative election, 1995 Candidate Votes % ± Hsu Tain-tsair 20.07 Shih Ming-te 18.81 Shih Tai-sheng 15.02 Tu Chen-jung 12.25 George Chang 10.05	Tainan City mayoral election, 1997 Candidate Votes % ± George Chang 35.75 Lin Nan-sheng 20.97 Hsu Tain-tsair 19.77
Tainan City legislative election, 1998 Candidate Votes % ± Chen Rong-shen 12.36 Hsu Tain-tsair 11.84 Lin Nan-sheng 11.84 Lai Ching-te 10.6 Wang Yi-ting 10.59 Tang Bi-a 10.24	Tainan City mayoral election, 2001 Candidate Votes % ± Hsu Tain-tsair 43.23 Chen Rong-shen 37.40 Su Nan-cheng 14.36 George Chang 2.9
Tainan City mayoral election, 2005 Candidate Votes % ± Hsu Tain-tsair 45.65 Chen Rong-shen 41.40 Chien Lin Hui-chun 12.95

External links

• Taiwan Tribune(in Chinese)
• North America Taiwanese Professors' Association