Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) exchanged harsh words with DPP mayoral candidate Lee Ying-Yuan (李應元) over the issue of who can take credit for Taipei's second-place ranking in Asiaweek's Best Cities in Asia survey three years ago.
In the 1999 edition of the magazine's annual survey, Taipei was ranked the second-most livable city in Asia out of 40 cities studied.
While Ma said at a press conference yesterday that his administration contributed more than that of his predecessor Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to the ranking, Lee, at a separate press conference, slammed Ma for being obstinate and dishonest by stealing credit that belongs to Chen.
To support his claim, Ma displayed an original copy of the Asiaweek article in an effort to dismiss Lee's earlier accusation that he had stolen credit for Taipei's No. 2 ranking.
According to Ma, Asiaweek asked the Taipei City Government in September 1999 for statistical information that was to be used for calculating the ranking and was to announce the result in December of that year.
"By then [September 1999] I had already been mayor for almost a year," Ma said.
The mayor added that of the statistics cited by Asiaweek, six of them came from 1998, when Chen was mayor, while the other eight dated up to June or August 1999, reflecting his administration's efforts.
Another statistic cited in the survey came from Taiwan's media, Ma added.
"Therefore, if we were to speak in terms of percentage, the Ma city government contributed 53 percent to the result while that of former mayor Chen contributed 40 percent," Ma said, adding that both he and Chen had contributed to Taipei's No. 2 ranking.
"We'd appreciate it if Lee and his supporters, such as Premier Yu Shyi-kun, would acknowledge that both the Ma administration and that of former mayor Chen contributed to the ranking," he said.
"We, however, find it unfair when they say that all the credit belongs to former mayor Chen," Ma said.
Lee disagreed with Ma's remarks and criticized the mayor for providing a dishonest explanation of the survey.
"In the introduction of that particular Asiaweek article, it clearly credited Chen, the former Taipei mayor, for Taipei's No. 2 ranking," Lee said.
The DPP candidate also displayed an original copy of the article at his press conference to support his statements.
Despite the story's introduction, Ma has spoken of the ranking publicly and claimed credit for the city's success, Lee said.
"What Ma did is dishonest," he said. "I find Ma's conduct regrettable."
Lee added the the moral integrity of the capital's mayor is of great importance to the city's future development.
"I hope that Ma will not decline my suggestion [to have the issue included in the next campaign debate]," Lee said.
The date and location of the proposed debate have yet to be determined.
"If one debate is not enough, we can have one debate on city affairs and another on the Taipei mayor's moral integrity," Lee said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary