The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus yesterday criticized the government’s pledge to see through reforms to the pension system and claimed the government should start by amending its “underhanded employment practices,” pointing to former New Party legislator Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大) as an example.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) yesterday reported that the Taipei City Government hired Hsieh in July last year. She was promoted to senior specialist at the city government’s secretariat ahead of her 65th birthday, which is also retirement age, allegedly so that she could get a higher pension, the report said.
TSU caucus whip Lai Chen-chang (賴振昌) said Hsieh has always felt she is Chinese and has accepted positions in China, accusing her of chasing a healthy pension in Taiwan by taking up a government job one year before retiring.
If Hsieh truly wants to do something for Taiwan there are many volunteer jobs she could do, Lai said, adding that serving Taiwan did not equate to having a high governmental position.
TSU deputy caucus whip Yeh Chin-ling (葉津鈴) said that Hsieh and others like her are the reason the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is facing strained finances.
Separately yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) and Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) questioned whether Hsieh has People’s Republic of China (PRC) nationality after living there for 10 years and said she could be a threat to national security.
The two added that Hsieh has never attended council meetings, does not have to clock in at work and had not been graded according to standards of employment for a civil servant, which contributes to the controversy of her holding a job at the city government.
In response, Taipei City Government Deputy Secretary-General Wu Kuo-an (吳國安) said that city officials above the 13th level are exempt from clocking in, adding that Hsieh’s office hours are handled by the human resources office.
On the matter of Hsieh’s alleged dual nationality, the city government’s human resources office said Hsieh had signed papers guaranteeing that she was not a national of any other country.
Meanwhile, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday described Hsieh’s position in the city government as “well-placed,” rebutting allegations that Hsieh was given the job to allow her to get a higher pension.
Hau said that Hsieh has expertise in law and was appointed to help handle domestic violence cases in the city.
Hsieh said she accepted the appointment based on her belief in serving the public and that she has no plans to retire.
She also denied that she is a PRC national.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
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