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.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
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