Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday assumed the mayorship of New Taipei City (新北市, the proposed English name of the upgraded Taipei County) and proclaimed the end of Taipei County and the arrival of “the beginning of a new age.”
“Today marks the beginning of the new age in which New Taipei City will compete with the four other special municipalities in the country,” he said during the swearing-in ceremony.
“There will not be any holidays during my four-year term. Every day will be a workday as we strive for the development of New Taipei City,” he added.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) presided over the swearing-in ceremony and handed Chu the official seal.
Expounding on his administrative principles, Chu said the relationships between the city government and its residents, and the city government and the central government, will be relationships of partnership “in which [the city] will push for all kinds of development to create a win-win situation.”
Chu’s campaign platform included an aggressive plan to extend the MRT system, creating 10 new lines, including three circular networks. He has also promised New Taipei City residents that by 2020, construction would either have started or be completed on 80 new stations and 100km of new tracks.
During Chu’s inaugural ceremony, Amis Aborigines from the Sanying Aboriginal Community along Dahan River (大漢溪) were blocked by police as they attempted to petition the mayor.
Buses carrying the Aborigines were stopped blocks away from city hall, and they were not allowed to go near the event until after the mayor left.
Chu’s election as mayor has worried many Aboriginal communities along rivers in New Taipei City because he has a record of demolishing riverside Aboriginal communities since his tenure as Taoyuan County commissioner.
Meanwhile, the new special municipality has still not figured out what to call itself in English.
On Monday Chu announced that the city shall henceforth be known in English as “New Taipei City” because Sinbei means “new Taipei” in Chinese.
However, the move has been blocked by the Ministry of the Interior for the time being, as Deputy Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) said the ministry would discuss the proposal with Chu at a later date.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS