Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday refused to sign a referendum petition to change the name the nation would use at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics from “Chinese Taipei” to “Taiwan,” saying that he respects the campaign, but as he is the head of a local government, he would refer to the central government’s stance on the issue.
Ko, who has been taking public buses to Taipei City Hall in the morning since October last year to help promote the use of public and sustainable transport, was approached by a man wearing a blue vest reading: “Team Taiwan Campaign for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”
“Mayor, are you willing to sign the petition?” the man asked as he tried to approach Ko at a bus stop, but was blocked by three bodyguards who accompany the mayor on his way to work. “Mayor, do you have any thoughts on this issue?”
Photo: CNA
The name rectification campaign, led by a group of civic organizations, was launched in January and passed the first-stage threshold in March. It is now in its second phase, which requires at least 281,745 signatures.
The Central Election Commission has said that proposals should be submitted by Friday to have the best chance of being on ballots in the nine-in-one local elections on Nov. 24.
In response to media inquiries over why he refused to sign the petition, Ko said: “Tolerance is the basis of freedom, but personal freedom is limited to not interfering with other people’s freedom, so while people have the right to express their political ideas, they also have the right to not express them.”
“I am willing to respect the 2020 Tokyo Olympics name rectification campaign, but I do not like being forced or to encounter people who want others to express their political ideas and do so with loud demands,” Ko said. “Frankly speaking, I really dislike this kind of behavior.”
Being mayor of the capital, he would refer to the central government’s stance on the issue, especially because it involves diplomatic matters — before making any decision, he said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS