Countering criticism leveled at several projects undertaken during his administration, former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday accused Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and his team of using “defamatory” tactics to hide their “ignorance” of municipal issues.
“Personally I found [the tactics] unbearable,” Hau, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member, said on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony for KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) at party headquarters.
Less than one month since Ko, who ran as an independent, was sworn in on Dec. 25, he has repeatedly cast doubt on the competence of the former Hau administration after examining several projects, including the Shezidao (社子島) development project, the Taipei Dome, the Taipei New Horizon (臺北文創) building, the MeHAS City (美河市) residential project, the Taipei Twin Towers (雙子星) and the athletes’ village for the 2017 World University Games.
Hau said the Ko administration had only revealed “half of the information” about these projects and given them a political spin to mislead the public.
The Ko administration should make all information public, which the city government has maintained for public scrutiny, Hau said.
All major development projects carried out under his administration were in strict compliance with statutory procedures and subject to supervision by the city government’s ethics department, he added.
“Absolutely [we] can withstand scrutiny,” he said.
The elections are over and the Ko administration should demonstrate how it can effectively govern the city, not by trampling on the previous administration to hide its ignorance of municipal issues, Hau said.
Hau said that he respected the Ko administration’s efforts to govern the city and wished it all the best, but he could no longer stand the criticism.
Asked whether he thought the Ko administration was on a “political witch-hunt,” Hau said he would leave it to the public to judge.
In response to Hau’s criticism, Ko said: “If you had openly and transparently made all documentation public when you were in office, there would not be any of this controversy.”
Ko said the city government would continue “putting out fires” left by the previous administration.
He has previously promised to open all documents related to corruption cases to inspection by city councilors.
Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber
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,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
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
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the