The first keynote speech of the festival ceremony activities of the 30th Anniversary of 《The Journalist》, "To be steadfast and forward - the new decade of Taiwan” was held at Eslite DunNan Main Store in Taipei on March 12th, 2017. Chia Lung Lin, the mayor of Taichung, was invited to give a speech, and he shared the progress of joining Taiwan’s democratization. In addition, he shared his leading philosophy and administrative values, including the policy of Greater Taichung 123, a new through-train day care and elderly care, the encouragement of taking up agriculture for young people, the project of start-ups for the young, 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition, and the 2019 East Asia Young Games, etc. All of the policies aim at breathing new life for the city from multi-faceted policies such as the traffic, industries, the living, and diplomacy.

Mayor Lin said, “The progress of Taiwan’s democratization is from the authoritarian age to the action of people’s demands which forced rulers to make some concessions and reforms, and all of them have to be reflected in the legal system. About democracy, somebody has to play different roles for the publicity of its value, the allocation of its gains or losses, and its criticism. All of those are based on knowledge as the driving forces for social advance.”

Mayor Lin said he went through a democratic transition around the Lifting of Martial Law in 1986 when he was a university freshman, and at that time, he joined some students’ movements such as democratization in schools and re-election of a national legislature. He studied at Yale University in 1991 and rethought the direction of the development for Taiwan’s democratic system. In the meanwhile, he linked with overseas students and exchanged some issues such as the recognition of Taiwan and the mainland, and the gender issue to reserve international perspectives.

After coming back to Taiwan in 1999, Chia Lung Lin started to work in the government system in 2000. He has taken charge of the advisory committee member of the National Security Council, the spokesman of the Executive Yuan, the minister of Government Information Office of Executive Yuan, the secretary general of the party headquarters of the DPP, and the deputy secretary general of the presidential palace, etc. Finally, he made up his mind to run in the election for the mayor of Taichung and settled in Taichung for richly cultivating there.

Mayor Lin said, “Do right things and do things rightly!” During taking charge of the mayor of Taichung, he promoted the policy of Greater Taichung 123 by using three major philosophies of the visionary leadership, the action leadership, and the servant leadership and four major administrative values of shortening the disparity between urban and rural areas, caring weak groups in the society, investing and innovating for the society, and renovating administrative efficacy. He built a Yamanote Line Circular Railway, the major seaport and airport, and three major new city centers accordingly to facilitate the balanced regional development. In the meanwhile, he proposed the Flagship Project of 2025 Taichung Good Life, which integrates five major tendencies of the convenience, the health, the beauty, the intelligence, and the hope and thirteen projects. He fully implemented all of these projects.

Mayor Lin explained further that “Driving Taiwan’s Smart Machinery Industry Program” has been passed by the Executive Yuan last year, and Taichung City will be core to develop the smart machinery and the defense aerospace industry. The international seaport and airport in Taichung are regarded as main gates for the foreign trade and both of them connect the world. In addition, the economy of the city is the base of the city competitive power, so a lot of enterprises have been positively invited to invest in Taichung City which plays the role of the core city in the middle Taiwan. Mayor Lin said, “We would like to improve tourism, public security, and traffic to strengthen the governance of the middle area with middle counties and cities such as Changhua, Nanto, Miaoli, etc.”

In the way of the social welfare, Mayor Lin said the concept of the “social investment” is adopted in Taichung City to promote a new through-train day care which not only develops the parity day care market to create job opportunities but also facilitates labor participation rate for women. More than two thousand day care jobs, such as the kindergarten teachers and the babysitters, have been created since the through-train day care was implemented. In addition, over seventy thousand toddlers whose ages are from zero to six have got the benefit. Moreover, a new 721 through-train elder care and a grant program for artificial tooth have been promoted by Taichung City Government to allow elders to get healthier lives.

In order to assist young people's development in the future, Taichung City Government has also promoted the Hope Project, the encouragement of taking up agriculture for the young people, and the project of the start-ups for the young people to foster them for employment. In addition, a lot of startup chances will be provided. Moreover, the public senior and vocational high schools in Taichung City have been changed into municipal ones this year. After unifying executive power, these schools and enterprises will conduct the industry-academy cooperation and the vocational-technical re-creation to allow young people to get jobs after graduating.

Mayor Lin also said it is very important for cities to extend their diplomacies. 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition and 2019 East Asia Young Games will be held in Taichung City next year, and those mean Taichung will positively go forward to the international community to allow the world to see the wonderful things in Taichung and Taiwan.

Eventually, Mayor Lin did the self-expectation, and he said as a politician, I never forget my original intention. I will keep making efforts for the development of Taiwan’s society whatever I am in any region.