Former New Party legislator Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大), whose employment by the Taipei City Government, allegedly to help her meet pension requirements, triggered a controversy, yesterday said she had resigned.
Hsieh made the announcement after Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) reproached her for traveling to China to appear on a Chinese TV talk show where she criticized the recent Sunflower movement protests at the Legislative Yuan and elsewhere in Taiwan.
Her appearance was reported in local media on Wednesday.
Photo: CNA
“I have officially tendered my resignation to Mayor Hau and hereby announce that I will not receive any pension. I will not tolerate media and politicians’ attacks on my integrity,” she told a press conference, which lasted only 30 seconds.
Last week, Taipei City councilors raised questions about the hiring of Hsieh in July last year and her promotion to senior specialist in the city government’s secretariat ahead of her 65th birthday, when she would qualify for a civil service pension because she had 22 years of civil service work before she moved to China for 10 years.
They also criticized her exemption from having to clock in and out, and from being graded according to civil servant employment standards — possible violations of the Civil Service Act (公務員服務法) — and questioned both her involvement in a lawsuit as a volunteer defense attorney and whether she also held People’s Republic of China citizenship.
Neither the Taipei City Government nor Hsieh responded to the questions, although related investigations are still ongoing.
Hsieh yesterday said that she decided to quit because she “cherished [her] reputation and dignity more than a pension.”
During the talk show, Hsieh said: “It is not true that ‘the people’ are always right.”
“Look at the recent occupation of the Legislative Yuan. Was it right? Absolutely not. There was someone behind the scenes using [the Sunflower movement],” she said.
Hau on Wednesday said her remarks were very inappropriate for a civil servant.
The mayor yesterday said Hsieh’s trip to China and appearance on the TV show had not been officially reported or approved.
“I would say this was one of the determining factors in her resignation,” he said.
In related news, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chiu Yi’s (邱毅) remarks on a Chinese political talk show during the Sunflower movement’s occupation of the legislature were criticized by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) at a meeting of the legislature’s Interior Committee yesterday.
Tuan questioned the appropriateness of Chiu, who is a board member of state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油), appearing on a Chinese talk show, where he claimed the Sunflower movement was a plot by the DPP.
Tuan said Chiu had also insulted the Legislative Yuan by referring to it as “a legislative body.”
The Chinese government censors the use of “Legislative Yuan” in connection with Taiwan because it connotes a national-level institution.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique