Greater Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) was sworn in yesterday to become the first mayor of Greater Taichung, which became a special municipality, and he pledged to assume his new responsibility with caution and care.
“There’s no free ‘upgrade’ and there are no free ‘governmental posts,’ we need to take up this brand-new challenge with brand-new concepts and determination,” Hu, of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), said during the swearing-in ceremony.
Minister without Portfolio Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) presided over the ceremony and handed the official seal to Hu, who has served as mayor of Taichung City for the past nine years.
Greater Taichung was formed by the merger of Taichung City and neighboring Taichung County.
MORE THAN TWO COLORS
Hu said in this speech that there were other colors in life besides blue and green — the two colors that represent the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party with their respective allies — as he stressed the importance of white and black, which he said represent right and wrong.
“We ought to stop differentiating one another by blue or green, we should put forth our best foot for the interests and the city’s progress,” he said.
“Some say it is impossible for Taiwan to achieve the goal to have black and white trump blue and green, but we must set high expectations for ourselves that we can do it. Yes, we can!” Hu added.
FLAG RAISING
Hu concluded his inaugural speech by inviting the public to join him in 2012 for a flag-raising ceremony at Lishan (梨山) on New Year’s Day and greet the sunrise on the first day of the new year.
Greater Taichung will hold its flag-raising ceremony next year at its new city hall.
COUNTY CLOSES
On Friday at 5pm, Taichung County Government staff and residents gathered at County Hall to observe the county flag being lowered for the last time. They sang the county anthem, some in tears.
“I have served in the county government for 30 years, from a teenager to a middle-aged woman,” a caretaker surnamed Lin (林) said.
A Taichung County resident surnamed Wang (王) traveled from Dali (大里) to take part in the flag-lowering ceremony.
“I have never attended a flag-hoisting ceremony, so I thought I should be here for the last flag-lowering ritual,” she said.
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
‘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
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man