Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday faced tough questions at the Taipei City Council after one of his top aides was found to have attended a meeting with borough wardens — which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) also attended — prior to another event where the borough wardens expressed solidarity with Tsai in her election campaign.
Prior to his policy address, Ko was questioned by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) city councilors over Taipei Department of Civil Affairs Commissioner Lan Shih-tsung’s (藍世聰) attendance of a closed-door meeting of the city’s borough wardens with Tsai. The councilors accused Lan of having violated the principle of neutrality by appearing at an event with a presidential candidate.
KMT Taipei City Councilor Wang Hsin-yi (王欣儀) said that Lan was not only seated close to Tsai at the meeting, but also gave a speech.
Ko has said that appearing at events organized by presidential or legislative candidates in next year’s Jan. 16 elections would be a form of “unconventional endorsement,” KMT Taipei City Councilor Wang Chih-ping (汪志冰) said, adding that Ko had made a list of things to avoid in an attempt to remain neutral.
However, Lan’s appearance at the meeting on Thursday has made Ko appear “hypocritical,” Wang said.
When asked by KMT Taipei City Councilor Wang Hong-wei (王鴻薇) whether he deemed appropriate Lan’s attendance of the meeting, Ko did not give a direct response, only saying: “As the elections approach, I expected this day to arrive. We will lay down a set of rules to be observed by officials in the run-up to the elections.”
Meanwhile, Lan said that the meeting was to discuss a draft bylaw that would more clearly define borough wardens’ responsibilities and purview, and that he was simply “doing his job” in attending it.
As passage of the proposed bylaw would require an amendment to a national law governing the purview of borough wardens, the group invited Tsai to attend and asked her to solicit the assistance of DPP lawmakers to push through the legislation, Lan told the Taipei Times.
He said the meeting and campaign event were held at different venues, and that he had only attended the closed-door meeting to discuss the bylaw.
“After I arrived at the meeting, I learned of the other event, where borough wardens planned to express their support of Tsai, so I avoided it,” Lan said.
“It [the meeting] was totally unrelated to the elections. If it had been a campaign event, it would have been a public event,” he said.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS