Taipei mayor-elect Hau Lung-bin (
Samuel Wu (
Yang Hsiao-tung (
"[Wu and Yang] are old friends of mine, and they will definitely be able to make up for my shortcomings," Hau said during a luncheon with the press.
Hau stressed that "talent would be the sole standard" for his new team. It is widely believed that at least half of Ma's administration will stay.
Hau said he would consult with Ma before making a final decision on the rest of his team.
Wu is currently a professor of public administration at National Taipei University. He served as chairman of the city's Research, Development and Evaluation Committee during Ma's first term.
Wu quit his job as civil affairs director to join the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) primary for the Huanlien County Commission election.
"I left the city government feeling that I could have done more, so it's wonderful to be able to come back and make more contributions to the city," he said yesterday.
Given that Wu has been one of Ma's long-term top aides, he was asked whether he would quit the city government if Ma were to run in the 2008 presidential election. He declined, however, to confirm the speculation.
"But I will help him no matter where I am," Wu said.
Yang, who is a special assistant to the chairman of the Chinese-language China Times, said he would spare no effort in his new job.
Ma is scheduled to leave office next Tuesday. Hau's administration will take office on Dec. 25.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
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