Sinbei mayor-elect Eric Chu (朱立倫) announced yesterday that former national police chief Hou You-yi (侯友宜) will be one of his deputies, saying that the appointment is part of the administration’s resolve to ensure public safety.
The announcement was made six days before Chu is to be inaugurated as the first mayor of Sinbei City, an area that will be formally upgraded from a county into a special municipality on Saturday.
“Public safety is a foremost concern of the residents and Hou’s appointment is a clear indication that the mayor is determined to maintain social order in the city,” said Lin Chieh-yu (林芥佑), Chu’s spokesman.
Hou is a highly decorated and respected police officer who shot to fame a as result of his involvement in many high-profile cases, including the kidnapping and murder of a famous entertainer’s daughter.
In 2006, he was the youngest person in history to assume the position of director-general of the National Policy Agency, which was followed by his appointment as the head of Central Police University in 2008.
The two other deputy mayor positions will be filled by Deputy Taipei County Commissioner Lee Shu--chuan (李四川) and Deputy Finance Minister Hsu Chih-chien (許志堅).
Former Water Resources Agency director-general Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) has been named as the city government’s secretary-general.
Chu also announced that the municipality’s official name in English would be “New Taipei City.”
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
RSS