Amid controversies over the selection of the director of Taipei City Government’s Department of Labor, independent Taipei mayor-elect Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday officially introduced the first 13 officials-to-be in his city government, vowing to strive to fulfill his promise for an open and transparent administration despite the recent setbacks.
“I would like to introduce 13 people who will serve in my city government,” Ko told a press conference. “As I’ve said, my election is not about me winning the position, rather it is about reclaiming power and returning it to the public, and therefore, most of the top officials in my administration — besides the deputy mayors — have been selected by the respective committees.”
“I would like to reiterate that, during my term as mayor, all public servants, including top officials, no longer need to serve any particular political party or ideology, they don’t even need to serve the mayor, and should only serve the people of Taipei,” he added.
The city officials introduced yesterday include the future deputy mayors Teng Chia-chi (鄧家基) and Lin Chin-jung (林欽榮), secretary-general Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Department of Education director Tang Chih-min (湯志民), Department of Sports director Yang Jong-her (楊忠和), Department of Rapid Transit Systems director Chou Li-liang (周禮良), Department of Urban Development director Lin Jou-min (林洲民), Department of Public Works director Peng Jhen-sheng (彭振聲), Department of Civil Affairs director Lan Shih-tsung (藍世聰), Department of Health director Huang Shier-chieg (黃世傑), Department of Information and Tourism director Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏), Department of Compulsory Military Service director Fu Yong-mao (傅永茂) and Indigenous Peoples Commission chief Chen Hsiu-hui (陳秀惠).
While most of the named officials have a political background to a certain extent, future Urban Development director Lin Jou-min was a renowned New York-based architect and has no previous political experience.
“Lin Jou-min was picked because he was recommended by the selection committee, and I think his background is interesting,” Ko said when asked to explain his choice. “I’ve been to a lot of cities around the world and always think that Taipei is too, I’d say, ugly, and I think it needs some serious urban renewal.”
“Lin Jou-min has been an architect in New York and is familiar with urban development there, I think he could help a great deal in making Taipei a city that’s competitive with other world-class cities,” Ko added.
Ko said the selection process for the remaining posts is still ongoing.
Asked about his choice for third deputy mayor, Ko said he has talked to a candidate, but is still awaiting a response.
“The political environment in Taiwan isn’t very good and makes people hesitate,” he said, adding that two of the five finalists for the labor department director withdrew their candidacy on Thursday because they had had enough of the negative political environment.
Ko said that because the two candidates withdrew, he would ask Teng to persuade two other well-qualified candidates who did not make it on the original short-list to reenter the race for the positions.
Despite originally having said that she would not be filling a vacancy after being eliminated from the final lshort-list of candidates, long-time labor activist Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) said that she was on the list after a discussion with the Taipei City Confederation of Trade Unions.
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
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we