Independent Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Democratic Progressive Party New Taipei City mayoral candidate Yu Shyi-kun yesterday pledged to work together to improve the lives of residents of the two closely connected cities.
“In my opinion, Taipei and New Taipei City are actually one metropolis; the two cities should therefore work together and conduct their urban planning as one,” Ko told a news conference at Yu’s campaign headquarters in Banciao District (板橋), New Taipei City.
“For example, [Taipei Mayor] Hau Lung-bin [郝龍斌] said he wanted to clean up the Tamsui River (淡水河), which borders the two cities, but without cooperating with New Taipei City, his plan would not succeed,” the physician-turned-politician said.
Nearly 100 percent of Taipei residents are served by an underground sewage system, but the ratio is less than 60 percent in New Taipei City, he said.
“Hau spent more than NT$35.4 billion [US$1.1 billion] to clean up the river, but it will still smell bad if New Taipei City does not complete its sewage system,” he said.
The two cities should be viewed as one when drawing up plans to improve public facilities, such as the MRT system, road networks, bus routes and urban development projects, he added.
“I will not have a problem working with Yu, so if we both get elected we can solve many problems together,” Ko said.
Yu agreed, saying that millions of residents of the two cities travel across the municipal boundaries on a daily basis, and unilaterally developing Taipei would not be positive for residents of the two special municipalities.
“When I was Yilan County commissioner, I established many facilities and events that are still popular today. I also said ‘no’ to high-polluting industries and promoted tourism in the county,” Yu said. “The Taipei and New Taipei metropolis features mountains, an ocean, a national park, an airport and harbors. I believe we can work together and plan well to create a world-class living environment for the two cities’ 6 million residents.”
In related news, the DPP and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said they have agreed that they would decide whether Yu or the TSU’s Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) would represent the pan-green camp in the New Taipei City mayoral election through a poll on Thursday next week.
Lin said he was confident that he could win against New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) if the latter decides to seek re-election.
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai