When Taipei City Bureau of Health (BOH) Director Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) was scolded yesterday by Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), one of her major backers, yesterday, it marked her lowest point in the battle against SARS.
"I have already reprimanded Chiou and asked her to improve supervision," Ma said during the press conference yesterday regarding the administrative error made by bureau Secretary-General Hsiao Tung-ming (
This was the first time ever Ma expressed dissatisfaction in public toward Chiou's performance as the city's anti-SARS commander.
Meanwhile, anti-SARS expert Professor Yeh Chin-chuan also rebuked Chiou two days ago. Yeh is Chiou's predecessor, and it was he who originally recommended her for the directorship.
"Punish those who should be punished, and it's only right to do it quickly," Yeh said to Chiou.
The show of disapproval by a host of top guns may indicate that Chiou's status as Ma's star pupil has started to crumble.
Just two weeks earlier when Chiou handed in her resignation, Ma firmly asked her to stay, and shielded her from the media's and the city council's fierce attacks.
But now, especially after both the heads of the Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control were sacked and new directors installed, Ma finally seems to have stretched his protective wings too wide, and he may not be able or willing to shelter Chiou anymore.
While internal rifts appear to be forming, Chiou has long been criticized by the media.
The media's discontent rose to a new height on the same day Yeh let loose his temper, and almost all major papers trimmed Chiou's coattails yesterday.
First there was the strong contrast between the severe punishment of certificate revoking for the head of Jen Chi Hospital Liao Cheng-hsiung (
Although the Taipei City Government insisted that the decisions regarding how a doctor should be punished were made by an independent doctor's disciplinary board, no one really bought it.
Taipei City Government has been fairly quick and resolute to dish out fines and other forms of punishment to Jen Chi Hospital, which is privately owned, and Taipei Municipal Gandau Hospital, which is administered by Taipei Veterans General Hospital instead of the BOH.
On the other hand, when it came to any neglagence at the bureau's own Hoping, the government expressed hesitance to tread upon the subject.
Then there was the matter of Chiou's reluctance to deal with Hsiao's faults, and the fact of Chiou missing out on Hoping's punishment notice.
During the press conference, even a reporter who was known to be a Ma administration supporter lost her patience with what she perceives as Chiou's unpersuasive answers. She lashed out at Chiou, questioning Chiou with ferocity matching an opposing city councilor.
Last week Chiou also enraged another reporter from a major newspaper by declaring publicly the SARS chronicle printed by the paper was full of mistakes without being able to identify even one single error.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS