Taiwan candidate dismisses troll accusations, urges opponent to explain tactics

New Taipei City mayoral candidate Su Chiao-hui has dismissed accusations of employing online trolls, suggesting her opponent should clarify their own campaign's digital strategies. The controversy arose after Su made a lighthearted remark comparing a local village chief to the character "Zhu Bajie" (Pigsy) from the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West." This comment drew criticism from the opposing party, with some alleging it was disrespectful and indicative of a broader campaign tactic.

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Whether the opponent has an online army can only be explained by the opponent themselves. We are actually adhering to a positive, optimistic, and sunny attitude to carry out this election campaign.

Following the criticism, online posts emerged on Threads, with some users suggesting they were from a pro-Kuomintang (KMT) online army. These posts reportedly contained a string of code and criticized the "Zhu Bajie" comment as disrespectful and arrogant. In response, Su stated that she has faced numerous online attacks and misinformation campaigns during her campaign. She emphasized her commitment to running a positive, optimistic, and sunny campaign, leaving the explanation of any alleged online armies to her opponents.

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We have Zhou Jianhe's party membership information. In the local area, village chiefs are truly at the forefront for all parties and need to take care of all village residents. Therefore, the village chief's hard work, attitude, and his spirit of caring for everyone regardless of party affiliation are truly the same as ours.

Regarding the village chief's political affiliation, Su clarified that local village chiefs often serve all residents regardless of party lines. She highlighted that her campaign has been actively engaging with residents across New Taipei for over 700 days, incorporating their feedback into her policy proposals. Su pointed to several of her policy initiatives, including free nutritional lunches for children, universal free rotavirus vaccinations for infants, enhanced senior citizen cards, and increased stipends for neighborhood chiefs, as examples of her platform that have gained support and are nearing implementation.

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Every time we propose a policy, the KMT constantly attacks it, thinking these policies are not good. But after this period, everyone can see that the policies I proposed, including free nutritional lunches for children, universal free rotavirus vaccinations for infants, upgraded senior cards, and increased neighborhood chief stipends, have all received everyone's support and are about to be implemented.

Su expressed her belief that presenting policies and engaging in constructive discussion is the way forward for a new generation of elections. She hopes to usher in a new era for New Taipei through a positive and optimistic approach, welcoming discussions on policies that can improve the city and the lives of its residents.

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This is a good policy. After proposing it, we discuss it. As long as it can help New Taipei upgrade and improve the lives of citizens, we are willing to discuss it together. This is the way of the new generation of elections. We hope to use this positive and optimistic attitude to create a new era for New Taipei together.