Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday vowed to rejuvenate the city with urban renewal projects, municipal developments and better public service in the next four years as he was sworn in in a ceremony that marked the beginning of his second term.
Taking the official seal from Vice Premier Sean Chen at Taipei City Hall, the mayor pledged to focus his second term on policies that will turn Taipei into a younger and more energetic city, including offering childbirth subsidies, zero-interest loans for startup businesses and overseas studies and affordable rental housing units.
“Taipei is a great city, but not young enough ... The policies are aimed at attracting younger people to work and live in Taipei ... I will be the mayor of all citizens and increase the city’s international competitiveness,” Hau of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said.
In his inauguration speech, Hau promised to enhance communication with the public and make more efforts to explain municipal policies to the people.
“Communication is the most important thing I’ve learned in the past months during the election campaign. I will communicate with the public more and carry out my campaign promises,” he said.
The city government will also include issues raised by the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who lost to Hau in the Nov. 27 mayoral election, such as planting more trees and building green boulevards in the city, in discussions for municipal developments, Hau said.
For his second term, Hau promised to complete the road surface improvement project that will make 675 major roads in the city more even and push further for the 1999 Taipei Citizen Hotline to offer 24-hour service to residents.
He said he would also work closely with New Taipei City (新北市, the proposed English name of the upgraded Taipei County) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) over the next four years to turn the banks along the Tamsui River (淡水河) into recreational areas and build more MRT lines connecting the two municipalities.
The 37 members of new administrative team in Taipei City were also sworn in. Representing outgoing officials in a farewell speech, former Taipei deputy mayor Lin Chien-yuan (林建元) urged all administrative officials to be able to handle criticisms while focusing the efforts on municipal developments.
“The architect who designed the pavilions at the Taipei International Flora Expo won top awards after being criticized by the press. All officials should be able to take criticisms,” he said.
About 200 guests attended the ceremony yesterday, including former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) as well as foreign dignitaries.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
The Taipei District Court today ruled to extend the incommunicado detention of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) for two more months as part of an ongoing corruption trial. Codefendants in the case — real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) — were granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) and NT$20 million respectively. Sheen and Lee would also be barred from leaving the country for eight months and prohibited from contact with, harassing, threatening or inquiring after the case with codefendants or witnesses. The two would also be