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.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
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
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
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