Sinbei mayor-elect Eric Chu (朱立倫) announced yesterday that former national police chief Hou You-yi (侯友宜) will be one of his deputies, saying that the appointment is part of the administration’s resolve to ensure public safety.
The announcement was made six days before Chu is to be inaugurated as the first mayor of Sinbei City, an area that will be formally upgraded from a county into a special municipality on Saturday.
“Public safety is a foremost concern of the residents and Hou’s appointment is a clear indication that the mayor is determined to maintain social order in the city,” said Lin Chieh-yu (林芥佑), Chu’s spokesman.
Hou is a highly decorated and respected police officer who shot to fame a as result of his involvement in many high-profile cases, including the kidnapping and murder of a famous entertainer’s daughter.
In 2006, he was the youngest person in history to assume the position of director-general of the National Policy Agency, which was followed by his appointment as the head of Central Police University in 2008.
The two other deputy mayor positions will be filled by Deputy Taipei County Commissioner Lee Shu--chuan (李四川) and Deputy Finance Minister Hsu Chih-chien (許志堅).
Former Water Resources Agency director-general Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) has been named as the city government’s secretary-general.
Chu also announced that the municipality’s official name in English would be “New Taipei City.”
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
FLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. Cases with the LB.1 subvariant