1954 Taiwanese Local Elections

Local elections were held in Taiwan in 1954, the second nation-wide elections in the post-war era of Taiwan, electing all 21 mayors of cities and magistrates of counties. The election for the Provisional Taiwan Provincial Council was held alongside the local elections to elect 57 councillors.

As the incumbent mayors/magistrates across the country were elected in eight different stages, resulting in various terms of office, the Government decided to extend the tenures of 19 mayors/magistrates for several months to end on 1 June 1954, except Miaoli and Taichung as the magistrates of both were elected in subsequent by-elections.

The unified local elections for the nineteen administrative divisions were held on 2 May 1954, with the same three-year term of office. Miaoli and Taichung elections were held on 18 July 1954, with shorter tenures that would end on the same day as the other local leaders in 1957.

Electoral system

According to the amended "Election and Removal of Mayors and Magistrates of Taiwan Province Regulation" (), the election abolished several requirements compared to the last: the two-round system was abandoned, while simple majority system was replaced by the first-past-the-post system. Thresholds requiring 50%-plus turnout and total votes cast (including invalid votes) were abolished. A candidate receiving the most votes shall be declared elected. If two candidates receive the same number of votes, lots will be drawn to determine the winner.

Summary

The Kuomintang won in a landslide, capturing 19 out of 21 divisions after flipping in Taichung City, Tainan City, and Hualien County. Incumbent Chiayi Magistrate was defeated by an independent, and Taipei Mayorship continued to be in the hand of the independents.

The list below shows the statistics of party membership of candidates standing in the election. The coloured box refers to the party membership of the elected mayor or magistrate.

Detailed results

Taipei

Kuomintang nominated Lt. Gen. Wang Min-ning (王民寧), former head of Taiwan Province police service during the February 28 incident, as the candidate for the Taipei mayoral election. The opposition was represented by Henry Kao, who briefly lived in the United States after last election's defeat. American reporters in Taiwan, who had been in touch with Kao, also reported on his election campaign. After understanding Kao's secret engagement with the American Embassy, Kuomintang seniors were concerned about Kao.

The past of Wang in the 1940s was being dig up and harmed his popularity, including detaining a doctor criticising him for pushing in at hospital, and his leading role during the suppression of February 28 uprising. Wang was also described as out of touch as he was not living in Taiwan for quite some time. According to party members of Kuomintang, Wang's campaign even tried bribing voters with food, who in turn destroyed Wang's election leaflets and then helped with Kao's canvassing. Kao, on the other hand, pursued pro-grassroot campaigning and was praised for his humbleness.

Amidst critical situation with Wang, Chiang Ching-kuo, son of President Chiang, met with heads of intelligence services to discuss further actions to help Wang. Taipei police then urged residents and shops to celebrate less for Kao but more for Wang, while Kuomintang agents groundless rumours over Kao as a CIA spy. This, however, bolstered his popularity as voters were angered by the oppressive governance and hoped Washington could pressure Taiwan Government to implement political reforms.

After voting concluded, the radio withheld announcing the results, only revealing Kao had more votes. William C. Chase, leader of the US Military Assistance Advisory Group in Taiwan, requested the United States Department of State to send a telegraph congratulating Kao's victory after discovering that vote counting stopped at night. Kao believed the telegraph forced Chiang Kai-shek to confirm the election result.

Former American Ambassador Wellington Koo later revealed that Chiang and party leaders were "very shocked and disappointed" over the defeat, while Kao believed the authorities did not stuff the ballot box because he was not considered to be a serious challenger. Seniors of Kuomintang's party headquarter and local branch, including Chang Chi-yun, resigned citing the loss.

Keelung

Yilan

Kan Ah-yen (甘阿炎) from the Kuomintang was elected.

Taoyuan

Hsinchu

Chu Sheng-chi (朱盛淇) was re-elected, fending off challenge by local faction.

Taichung

Lin Chin-piao (林金標), who lost in last Taichung mayoral election, was nominated again by the Kuomintang, while Tangwai backed doctor Chang Shen-hsu (張深鑐) who long participated in anti-government protest movements. Lin's community work, along with the votes of sympathy over his last electoral defeat, were rewarded with a landslide victory, earning 67% of votes, while Chang was criticised to be too arrogant.

Changhua

Incumbent Changhua and former Changhua mayor Chen Hsi-ching (陳錫卿) was hugely supported by the public in the last election, as he was elected without heading to the run-off. But his popularity dropped as discontent in Changhua city grew over new policies that favoured rural rather than urban.

As multiple party members expressed interest in running in the magisterial election, Kuomintang organised a primary before the election. Lin Bo-yu (林伯餘), a famous doctor in Changhua seen as a great challenger to Chen, however, was eventually forced to quit the primary after pressure from Chen. Yang Ting-kuo, another primary candidate, was defeated by Chen, paving way for securing the nomination.

The dissatisfaction towards Chen over his tactics led to the endorsement of Shih Hsi-hsun, an activist during Japanese rule, by local politicians and local factions to run for Tangwai. With the support for Shih growing, local Kuomintang smeared Shih as an "illegal" candidate during unauthorisied canvassing. On the election day, rural villagers chiefs had allegedly voted on behalf of villagers, while election frauds were reported.

The official result announced saw Chen re-elected with a reduced majority.

Nantou

Yunlin

Chiayi

Incumbent magistrate Lin Chin-sheng (林金生) was again nominated by the Kuomintang, but was defeated by Li Mao-sung (李茂松) who broke away from the party and ran as an independent.

Tainan

Kaohsiung

Chen Hsin-an (陳新安) was supported by Tangwai local leader Yu Teng-fa, both defeated in last election, and by local faction, hence was elected unopposed.For Kaohsiung City, incumbent mayor Hsieh Cheng-chiang (謝掙強) was re-elected, defeating challenges from other local factions.

Pingtung

Hualien

Kuomintang candidate Lin Mao-sheng (林茂盛) was elected in Hualien County, succeeding from Democratic Socialist magistrate.

Penghu

Incumbent magistrate Lee Yu-lin (李玉林) ran for second term, while some on the islands wished to have a local governing the county, instead of a ''waisheng'' (mainland Chinese migrant) military personnel. Hsu Cheng-ching (許整景), who was born in Penghu but relocated to Kaohsiung, was considered the potential challenger, and had reluctantly agreed to put his name forward.

The original evaluation by the Kuomintang put the popularity of Lee at around 70%, Hsu at 30%. However, as Hsu started gaining support, the party reversed the prediction, while the military of Penghu decided obstructing Hsu's campaign. Commander of the islands first told Hsu that they were throwing their weight behind Lee, then soldiers stopped campaign team from canvassing citing "martial law", and warned some residents against voting Hsu or risk blocking the ports. In light of the gross interference by the military, Hsu abandoned his election plan and returned to Kaohsiung.

Miaoli

Liu Ting-kuo (劉定國) from the Kuomintang was elected.

Taitung

Wu Chin-yu, Speaker of Taitung County Council, was nominated by the Kuomintang as the sole candidate of the election.

References

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{{Taiwanese elections

1954 elections in Asia
1954 in Taiwan
May 1954 in Asia
July 1954 in Asia
Elections in Taiwan