DPP Councilors Give Hou's Administration a Failing Grade; Mayor Insists 'We Will Definitely Pass'
During a general interpellation at the New Taipei City Council on the 20th, several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors jointly questioned the city government, giving Mayor Hou Yu-ih's administration a 'failing grade' for poor performance in areas like budget allocation, information security, social housing, and childcare policies. Mayor Hou responded to each point, stressing that all actions were lawful, security issues were under investigation, and he promised to review existing systems. Citing international awards for the city, he confidently stated his administration 'will definitely pass.'
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 20, 2026 at 15:12
- 🔍 Collected: May 20, 2026 at 16:02 (50 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 20, 2026 at 18:30 (2h 27m after Collected)
During a general interpellation at the New Taipei City Council, several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors held a joint session, giving the municipal administration a failing grade. They held up posters and chanted slogans like, "The administration is failing, Hou Yu-ih must take responsibility." Mayor Hou Yu-ih responded, "We will definitely pass, don't worry."
DPP's New Taipei City councilors Li Yu-hsiang, Chen Chi-neng, Lin Ming-jen, Chen Nai-yu, Huang Shu-chun, Yamada Moe, and Cho Kuan-ting conducted the joint interpellation. Cho Kuan-ting stated that while the city government claims to be short on funds when councilors propose social welfare projects, it is "outrageous" that it is spending millions in public funds on self-promotion in its final year of the term. He alleged that a NT$9 million public opinion survey tender by the Social Affairs Bureau was a case of "selling dog meat under the sign of a sheep's head," with 90% of the funds actually being for promotional expenses.
Mayor Hou stated that the relevant tenders were handled according to the Government Procurement Act, but agreed that social welfare budgets should be what they are meant to be. He added that the tender's description should have been clearer.
Huang Shu-chun pointed out that the New Taipei City government's cloud system was found to contain Chinese software embedded by a downstream contractor. An expert report confirmed that the software is suspected of collecting and transmitting internal city government data, posing a huge risk to important official information and citizens' personal data.
Mayor Hou responded that the entire case has been referred to the New Taipei City Investigation Division for investigation and reported to the Ministry of Digital Affairs for inspection. He noted that the Cyber Security Management Act is now in place, and they will retroactively review tenders from before the act was legislated to clarify any cybersecurity concerns, such as the involvement of mainland Chinese companies.
Li Yu-hsiang also questioned the phenomenon of grassroots civil servants leaving the New Taipei City Government. He suggested the city should consider relaxing the flexible work hours by two hours, similar to a policy in neighboring Taipei City, to alleviate the hardship for employees commuting from other counties or long distances within the city. He also proposed considering transportation subsidies to genuinely retain talent.
Mayor Hou said the city government would review the current system and further extend the window for flexible work hours, making dynamic adjustments from the employees' perspective. The transportation subsidy part will also continue to be comprehensively evaluated.
Additionally, Yamada Moe criticized the Sports Department for using a poor overall environment as an excuse for the Banqiao Arena project's failure to secure a bid three times, calling it perfunctory. Lin Ming-jen stated that while New Taipei City announced an increased proportion of units for married and child-rearing households in Tucheng's Yuanhe No. 2 Social Housing, the total number of units is only 135, meaning an increased proportion still doesn't amount to many units. He called for a simultaneous review of the rent brackets for these households and the childcare subsidy system.
New Taipei City Councilor Chen Nai-yu demanded that the city move beyond just subsidies, pilot programs, studies, and promotions regarding temporary childcare capacity, a kindergarten supervisory cloud, and middle school education resources in Xindian District. She argued that the city must truly fix the systemic gaps, stating that subsidizing surveillance cameras is not equivalent to upgrading child safety, and that public and private kindergartens must be phased into a "supervisory cloud."
Chen Chi-neng criticized Kuomintang (KMT) legislators for boycotting the national defense budget, using defense issues as a tool for political attacks. He suggested that Mayor Hou would be very suitable to serve as a "convener for cross-party defense budget negotiations." Hou Yu-ih replied, "Don't find a job for me," stating that he would first do his job as mayor well and take care of New Taipei City.
Li Yu-hsiang emphasized that after reviewing the administration's performance through the joint interpellation, they were giving it a failing grade in areas such as childcare. Li and others held up a poster and chanted, "The administration is failing, Hou Yu-ih must take responsibility." Hou Yu-ih retorted that New Taipei City had been recognized as one of the top 50 happy cities in the world, saying, "We will definitely pass, don't worry."
DPP's New Taipei City councilors Li Yu-hsiang, Chen Chi-neng, Lin Ming-jen, Chen Nai-yu, Huang Shu-chun, Yamada Moe, and Cho Kuan-ting conducted the joint interpellation. Cho Kuan-ting stated that while the city government claims to be short on funds when councilors propose social welfare projects, it is "outrageous" that it is spending millions in public funds on self-promotion in its final year of the term. He alleged that a NT$9 million public opinion survey tender by the Social Affairs Bureau was a case of "selling dog meat under the sign of a sheep's head," with 90% of the funds actually being for promotional expenses.
Mayor Hou stated that the relevant tenders were handled according to the Government Procurement Act, but agreed that social welfare budgets should be what they are meant to be. He added that the tender's description should have been clearer.
Huang Shu-chun pointed out that the New Taipei City government's cloud system was found to contain Chinese software embedded by a downstream contractor. An expert report confirmed that the software is suspected of collecting and transmitting internal city government data, posing a huge risk to important official information and citizens' personal data.
Mayor Hou responded that the entire case has been referred to the New Taipei City Investigation Division for investigation and reported to the Ministry of Digital Affairs for inspection. He noted that the Cyber Security Management Act is now in place, and they will retroactively review tenders from before the act was legislated to clarify any cybersecurity concerns, such as the involvement of mainland Chinese companies.
Li Yu-hsiang also questioned the phenomenon of grassroots civil servants leaving the New Taipei City Government. He suggested the city should consider relaxing the flexible work hours by two hours, similar to a policy in neighboring Taipei City, to alleviate the hardship for employees commuting from other counties or long distances within the city. He also proposed considering transportation subsidies to genuinely retain talent.
Mayor Hou said the city government would review the current system and further extend the window for flexible work hours, making dynamic adjustments from the employees' perspective. The transportation subsidy part will also continue to be comprehensively evaluated.
Additionally, Yamada Moe criticized the Sports Department for using a poor overall environment as an excuse for the Banqiao Arena project's failure to secure a bid three times, calling it perfunctory. Lin Ming-jen stated that while New Taipei City announced an increased proportion of units for married and child-rearing households in Tucheng's Yuanhe No. 2 Social Housing, the total number of units is only 135, meaning an increased proportion still doesn't amount to many units. He called for a simultaneous review of the rent brackets for these households and the childcare subsidy system.
New Taipei City Councilor Chen Nai-yu demanded that the city move beyond just subsidies, pilot programs, studies, and promotions regarding temporary childcare capacity, a kindergarten supervisory cloud, and middle school education resources in Xindian District. She argued that the city must truly fix the systemic gaps, stating that subsidizing surveillance cameras is not equivalent to upgrading child safety, and that public and private kindergartens must be phased into a "supervisory cloud."
Chen Chi-neng criticized Kuomintang (KMT) legislators for boycotting the national defense budget, using defense issues as a tool for political attacks. He suggested that Mayor Hou would be very suitable to serve as a "convener for cross-party defense budget negotiations." Hou Yu-ih replied, "Don't find a job for me," stating that he would first do his job as mayor well and take care of New Taipei City.
Li Yu-hsiang emphasized that after reviewing the administration's performance through the joint interpellation, they were giving it a failing grade in areas such as childcare. Li and others held up a poster and chanted, "The administration is failing, Hou Yu-ih must take responsibility." Hou Yu-ih retorted that New Taipei City had been recognized as one of the top 50 happy cities in the world, saying, "We will definitely pass, don't worry."