Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"Chiu insisted on resigning, so I accepted her resignation eventually. She offered her resignation on May 8 for the first time. I declined her resignation because the SARS epidemic was grave at that time," Ma said.
To fill the vacancy, Ma said Deputy Major Ou Chin-der (
Chiu offered to resign again on Tuesday but Ma insisted she needed to finish the battle against SARS.
"After having a talk with Chiu tonight, I agreed to allow her to retreat from the frontline of the battle against the disease," Ma said.
Ma said Chiu, who drew criticism after the city government hurriedly sealed off Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital after its SARS outbreak, told him she would take responsibility for turmoil at the hospital.
According to Ma, he agreed to let Chiu go because Taipei City reported only one to two probable SARS cases over the past several days, an indication that the epidemic has gradually stabilized.
While Chiu was under fire from the media, her deputy, BOH Deputy Director Hsu Chun-chiang (許君強), was also running into difficulty.
Reporters asked Hsu whether the bureau had privately apologized to Hoping doctor Chang Yu-tai (
Chang and his colleague Hsin Kuo-hui (辛國輝) expressed anger and disappointment after the bureau announced two days ago that the doctors would be fined NT$90,000 each for delaying reporting possible SARS cases.
Chang explained that the bureau gave notice to the doctors whose names appeared on the files of SARS patients whose cases had been reported late.
Chang said the Department of Infection in Hoping had asked him to sign the files that lacked a doctor's signature to help them accelerate reporting cases to the BOH.
"It was because I was courageous enough to take up the responsibility that I signed," Chang said.
"But the bureau did not even ask me why I signed before they punished me," he added.
Hsin also said he did not put off reporting cases to the infection department and hinted that the fault lay with the department itself. Infection department dean Lin Jung-ti (
The normal procedure the reporting of statutory communicable diseases is for a doctor to report the cases to the Department of Infection, which then reports them to the bureau.
But the bureau said this procedure was only for the hospitals' convenience and should not interfere with the reporting process and timeliness stipulated in the Communicable Disease Prevention Law.
"I just wanted my name cleared. I do not want to be associated with the likes of Lin," Chang said. "I have been working hard, but it appears to me now that those who do more are blamed more, and those who do less blamed less. My good deeds have come to an evil end."
Hsu, however, responded by saying, "there was no such thing as an apology."
"I did call Chang earlier. We are friends and of course there was the matter of sympathy. When I needed to mete out his punishment, I felt upset, as a friend, that he would be troubled by this. But I am a public servant and have to do what I have to do," Hsu said.
The bureau, meanwhile, had invited the doctors to explain the delayed reports.
Ma also thought nothing of not informing the doctors first about the possible upcoming punishments.
"Chances offered afterward to defend themselves are still chances offered," Ma said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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