The four winners of the legislative by-elections were sworn in yesterday by Grand Justice Huang Hung-hsia (黃虹霞), with Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) and the caucus whips from the two main political parties attending.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yu Tian (余天), representing Taipei’s Sanchong District (三重), is to have a seat on the Internal Administration Committee, while DPP Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文), representing Tainan’s second electoral district, is to have a seat on the Economic Committee, the Legislative Yuan said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko Cheng-fang (柯呈枋) is to sit on the Transportation Committee, while independent Legislator Chen Yu-chen (陳玉珍) is to join the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, it said.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that the party welcomed two experienced members whose efforts would no doubt help immensely to push its policies.
Yu had served as a legislator and was on the Internal Administration Committee, while Kuo is equally experienced, having previously served as deputy minister of labor, Ker said.
Yu said that he promised during his campaign to be attentive to and to satisfy the public will, adding that he would prioritize matters that members of the public bring to his attention.
Yu cited as an example complaints by borough wardens about maintenance of closed-circuit television systems (CCTV).
CCTV maintenance used to be the borough warden’s responsibility, but it has been transferred to local police stations, but requests for repairs often go unheeded, Yu said, adding that he would prioritize resolving this issue, as it concerns public safety.
Kuo said that he would still need to get accustomed to a role reversal, with him asking questions now of government officials instead of being the one answering them.
His primary mission is to better serve his constituents though policy interpellation, project backing and funding allocation, Kuo said.
Ko said he hoped to amend legislation that would benefit the nation and the public, and that he would work with the KMT caucus and help provide oversight of the government.
As the first female legislator representing Kinmen County, Chen said she would make the “affairs of Kinmen residents, whether great or small, my affairs,” and would staunchly relay to the government their needs.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
RSS