Faced with a possible Control Yuan investigation over the Taipei City Government’s improper use of its public housing budget, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that he would not worry too much about being investigated, and that being probed by the agency during his time as a physician actually helped him become Taipei mayor.
Ko made the remark at a forum in New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和), where he discussed with legislative candidates his political beliefs and possibilities of improving collaborations between the two municipalities.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Chen Yung-te (陳永德) on Friday said that the KMT Taipei City Council caucus would file a report with the Control Yuan concerning the city government’s inappropriate use of funds, which it said totaled NT$15 million (US$454,476), and ask that Ko be probed.
Photo: Chung Hung-liang, Taipei Times
The city government’s unauthorized use of the fund was illegal and disdainful, Chen said.
In response to media queries yesterday on whether he was worried about the possible investigation, Ko said: “I became mayor because I was investigated by the Control Yuan.”
Ko was referring to an incident in which the National Taiwan University Hospital negligently transplanted the organs of AIDS patients, for which Ko, who helped design the registration system for organ transplants, nearly got impeached by the Control Yuan.
Ko had protested the punishment handed by the Control Yuan numerous times, citing a loophole in the system and likening the impeachment, later nullified by a grand justice, to a “public trial” conducted by the Chinese Communist Party.
Ko later said that he is on a crusade to change Taiwanese culture, to “fulfill Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) destiny,” which is why he has agreed to be interviewed by reporters every day, because he wants to be a promoter of culture rather than a political leader.”
Chiang was a pioneer of Taiwanese democracy and human rights and was responsible for founding the Taiwan People’s Party (台灣民眾黨), the nation’s first modern political party, and the first Taiwanese Federation of Workers’ Unions. He died from typhoid fever under the former Taiwan Governer-General’s Office watch.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
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Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
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