Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) took her oath and began her four-year term in office yesterday, pledging to open new horizons for the port city that was officially merged with neighboring Kaohsiung County to become a special municipality.
Stressing that all resources would be equally shared and fairly distributed, she also pledged to reduce the gap between rural and urban areas.
“I pledge there will absolutely be no such thing as a so-called ‘one city, two systems,’” she said.
She also called on the central government to attach more importance to the voices of southern Taiwanese.
Minister without Portfolio Lin Junq-tzer (林政則) presided over the swearing-in ceremony and handed over to Chen the official seal.
Lin reiterated President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) concern for striking a balanced development between the north and south of the country, and noted that many of the central government’s 12 major development projects would be carried out in the south.
Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), a former Kaohsiung mayor, also took part in the ceremony, which was marred by a tiny group of protesters who demanded that Chen step down over controversy about the construction of a liquid petroleum gas station in the city.
Both Chen and Hsieh are Democratic Progressive Party heavyweights.
Immediately following her inauguration, Chen called a meeting with all bureau chiefs and approved several documents, including one to set up a committee to promote reconstruction in areas damaged by Typhoon Morakot last year.
The economy, flood prevention, public security, green energy and rural development would be high on her agenda as part of her efforts to transform Taiwan’s largest port city, according to Chen.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
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Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
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