Taipei Mayor-elect Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday named his top-level administrative officials -- 18 of whom are current or former members of Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) administration.
Of the 31 officials, Hau only appointed 12 new names, confirming Hau's campaign promise that he would continue Ma's municipal policies. The other official is serving in an acting capacity.
Among Hau's new troops, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Yung-ping (
Former independent legislator Su Ying-kuei (
Emile Sheng (
Sheng, Lee and Su were active members in the anti-Chen campaign.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Samuel Wu (吳秀光), director of information Yang Hsiao-tung (羊曉東) and director of civil affairs Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹) were members of Hau's election campaign team.
Hau dismissed comments that the appointment of the eight directors was a "reward" for their help during the election, adding that "talent is the only thing that matters" when selecting officials.
As Sheng, Lee and Su were all popular guests on TV talk shows, Hau said the city government will "follow the rules" regarding their future appearance on TV.
"I am afraid that their income may shrink a lot as a result of their joining my administration. They made a lot of sacrifices," Hau said.
Sheng will soon quit his position as a TV show host, Hau said.
Lin Chun-yi (
Hau is still looking for directors for four departments.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods