Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said he would like to set up a hotline with Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to avoid possible communication errors.
Ko in a previous interview had said that as he and Tsai rarely meet each other, a dedicated line is needed to avoid mistakes that might occur while messages are being passed on.
When asked to comment on the proposal yesterday, Ko said that he not only wants to establish a hotline with Tsai, but with other influential political figures.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
“Sometimes what you mean to say gets lost as a result of words being passed on… I think setting up hotlines is a good idea,” he said.
Regarding a comment he made about Tsai that she is adept at negotiating, but not “decisive” enough, which might hamper progress to relocate the Taipei International Airport (Songshan Airport), Ko said: “This is her strength.”
“Let us not forget that Tsai used to be the nation’s top negotiator in the WTO. Negotiation is her specialty,” Ko said.
The mayor said that the American Institute In Taiwan (AIT) had contacted him to seek his opinion on Tsai.
“I told them not to worry, that she is a very discreet person,” Ko said.
Ko also sought to clarify a controversial remark he made on Wednesday that people with illegal structures obstructing firefighters’ access to fire lanes should sign an affidavit waiving the Taipei City Government’s responsibilities in the event of a fire.
Ko criticized people who “strategically postpone” removing illegal structures, such as signs or canopies, by resorting to improper influence — such as asking city councilors to intervene — saying that such people should let authorities set up warning signs in front of their properties and sign an affidavit.
“This is called civic responsibility. Who would assume responsibility if a fire broke out? Someone has to,” Ko said.
“As far as I am concerned, whatever needs to be torn down should be torn down, because the government would be the only party held responsible if an accident happens,” he added.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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