William Lai (賴清德) took the oath yesterday and was sworn in as the first mayor of the new special municipality of Greater Tainan, pledging to restore Tainan to its former glory in an effort to capitalize on its historic and cultural importance.
“We hereby welcome the new birth of this city,” he said in his inaugural speech, adding that the merger of Tainan City and Tainan County into Greater Tainan will allow the new municipality to use its unique features to transform itself into a special city.
Minister without Portfolio Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗) presided over the swearing-in ceremony of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) rising star.
In his 13-minute speech, Lai expressed his gratitude to former Tainan mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) and former Tainan County commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) for their work during the past nine years.
However, neither Hsu nor Su made an appearance at the ceremony.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), former premier Yu Shyi-kun and former Presidential Office secretary-general Mark Chen (陳唐山) were also on hand to witness the event as special guests.
On his last day in office on Friday, Su hosted a farewell party at the County Hall and said “Tainan County” will always stay in the hearts of its residents.
Hsu, meanwhile, said he has set up an office called “Hsu Tain-tsair Office” and will continue to care for issues that pertain to people’s well-being and happiness.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it