Taipei City Deputy Mayor Chou Li-fang (周麗芳) submitted her resignation, to take effect before Feb. 2, Taipei City Government spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) said yesterday.
Chou on Tuesday tendered her resignation to Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), citing her desire to “resume academic research” at the National Chengchi University, which Ko approved, Lin said.
“The mayor expresses his gratitude for the deputy mayor’s hard work during the past year, especially her efforts in directing the Universiade [in summer next year], the city’s flagship soft-power project and promoting city-to-city diplomacy, all of which had met their current policy targets. The mayor respects and honors her request,” Lin said.
However, according to a report by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times) last year, Chou’s job had been on the block as early as last month, due to widespread dissatisfaction at her performance from the public and the corridors of power.
Chou’s reputation took a blow when the Chinese-language United Daily News reported that she received the third-lowest performance rating of all municipal officials from a survey of city councilors.
The performance evaluation survey, conducted by Taipei Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, is widely believed to provide a basis for weeding out inept or unpopular members of the municipal government, the report said.
Chou, a public finance professor, joined the municipal government on Feb. 16 last year.
Ko reportedly favored filling the deputy mayor’s post with a woman, which until that time had remained vacant.
Originally, Chou occupied both the position of the deputy mayor as well as the chief executive officer of next year’s Universiade Taipei.
A week after Ko returned from his tour of South Korea in July last year — made in preparation for the Universiade — Chou was removed from the organizing committee.
Last month, rumors surfaced that Ko was considering demand ing Chou’s resignation.
At the time, Ko denied the allegation, while Chou strenuously defended her performance.
The resignation of city government consultant Hung Chih-kun (洪智坤) was also acknowledged yesterday by Lin and Hung’s resignation is expected to take effect no sooner than tomorrow’s presidential and legislative elections.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
A woman who allegedly spiked the food and drinks of an Australian man with rat poison, leaving him in intensive care, has been charged with attempted murder, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. The woman, identified by her surname Yang (楊), is accused of repeatedly poisoning Alex Shorey over the course of several months last year to prevent the Australian man from leaving Taiwan, prosecutors said in a statement. Shorey was evacuated back to Australia on May 3 last year after being admitted to intensive care in Taiwan. According to prosecutors, Yang put bromadiolone, a rodenticide that prevents blood from
A Japanese space rocket carrying a Taiwanese satellite blasted off yesterday, but was later seen spiraling downward in the distance as the company said the launch attempt had failed. It was the second attempt by the Japanese start-up Space One to become the country’s first private firm to put a satellite into orbit, after its first try in March ended in a mid-air explosion. This time, its solid-fuel Kairos rocket had been carrying five satellites, including one from the Taiwan Space Agency and others designed by Japanese students and corporate ventures. Spectators gathered near the company’s coastal Spaceport Kii launch pad in Japan’s
RSS