Incumbent Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
"The `Kaohsiung era' has come," Hsieh declared at his mayoral inauguration ceremony, held at Kaohsiung City Hall yesterday morning.
"Kaohsiung City will become an economic and trade city, as well as a garden city," Hsieh said in his inauguration speech. "This city is ready to get on the international stage," he said.
Hsieh said that being a hard-working mayor is the only way to express his gratitude to all of Kaohsiung citizens. In the future, the city will strive toward its goal of becoming a port city of free commerce and trade once the draft bill entitled "Kaohsiung as a municipal port city of commerce and trade" (高雄經貿自治港市條例草案) is officially passed by the Legislative Yuan.
The draft bill has already proceeded to the Legislative Yuan for review.
"Facing fierce international competition, Kaohsiung must think about how to maintain its position as the world's leading container port," Hsieh said. "It must also think about how to take the initiative in order to gain the upper hand once direct links across the Taiwan Strait are fully opened," he said.
Hsieh also named most of the heads of the city's bureaus and departments yesterday. Surprisingly, former National Police Administration director-general Yao Kao-chiao (
The KMT's Yao switched to Hsieh's camp right before the mayoral election and was later expelled by his party.
It's also a surprise that Hsieh appointed controversial Wu Meng-te (吳孟德) as head of the city's Bureau of Urban Development.
Wu is former director of the city's Bureau of Public Works. He was forced to resign in April after he angered resident mainlanders by saying that massive flooding last year was brought about due to the influx of mainlanders into the city.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
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