Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday said the City’s Department of Government Ethics is looking into two land development cases approved under former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) administration, as city councilors have raised speculation about Ko allegedly allowing some companies to profit.
The Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday reported that the Ko administration had allowed the floor area ratio of Core Pacific City Co (京華城), a shopping mall in Songshan District (松山), to increase from 392 percent to 840 percent.
Core Pacific Group (威京集團) was suspected of profiting from the increased floor area ration, it said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
It also reported that the Ko administration in 2021 had allowed Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) to win the bid for a 50-year surface rights to plot T17 and T18 in the Beitou Shilin Science Park (北投士林科技園區) without needing an investment plan.
As the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), of which Ko is founder and chairperson, allowed former Shin Kong Life Insurance Co vice president Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈), who is the granddaughter of Shin Kong Group founder Wu Ho-su (吳火獅), to fill a legislative seat vacancy the following year, the Ko administration was suspected of aiding the company, it said.
Democratic Progressive Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) city councilors have been gathering signatures to propose the establishment of a special investigation team to look into the cases, and they plan to propose it on Wednesday, the report said.
Chiang said the Department of Government Ethics has already begun investigating the two cases, and the city government would “do whatever is necessary” if problems are uncovered.
“We will not treat them wrongly, if they are innocent, nor let them off easily if they are not,” he said.
Meanwhile, the TPP Taipei City Council caucus yesterday issued a news release saying the party holds a rational, scientific and practical attitude in facing and solving problems, so it supports the city council forming an investigation team to transparently look into the cases.
It said the city government should publicize all related meeting minutes and have specialists and academics review them, along with another case involving Taiwan Intelligent Fiber Optic Network Consortium (TAIFO, 台灣智慧光網).
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
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