Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday welcomed the news that Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) had appointed the principal of a prestigious Taipei high school as one of his deputies.
Hu’s announcement that he was appointing Taipei Jianguo High School principal Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) as deputy mayor took many by surprise.
Tsai has served as a division chief at the Ministry of Education and as the deputy commissioner of the Cultural Affairs Department in Taichung County. He was selected to be school principal in 2008.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
“I think Mayor Hu made an excellent choice and I am glad that principal Tsai has the opportunity to serve more people in his future position,” Hau said.
Taipei’s Department of Education will organize a selection committee to choose Tsai’s successor.
In contrast with the municipal team put together by Hu and Eric Chu (朱立倫), mayor-elect of New Taipei City (新北市, the proposed name of the upgraded Taipei County), Hau’s new administration was described by the local media as lacking impressive faces or refreshing choices.
Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said Hau’s new line-up was a “stale team” with only a few new members and little possibility of making impressive achievements during his second term.
However, Hau shrugged off the criticism, and said all of the officials had been picked for their administrative experience and expertise in their fields.
Hau announced his new administration lineup on Thursday, with seven new members joining the 37-member team.
Incoming Taipei deputy mayor Chen Wei-ren (陳威仁) is Ministry of Transportation and Communications administrative deputy minister, while the next commissioner of the city’s transportation department, Jason Lin (林志盈), is now the general manager of Taipei EasyCard Corp. Both served as department heads for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration when he was Taipei mayor.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their