Unlike last year, fruit and vegetable prices are unlikely to fall drastically after the Lunar New Year holiday, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said on Wednesday after his first meeting with new Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Co (TAPM) general manager Weng Chen-hsin (翁震炘).
Ko, accompanied by Weng and Taipei Fishery Marketing Co chairman Huang Chun-cheng (黃俊誠), visited the Taipei Fish Market and Taipei First Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market to exchange Lunar New Year greetings with vendors.
Weng, who previously served as secretary-general of the Council of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Agency, was recommended by the council and elected as general manager last week.
He took over a post that was dogged by a months-long controversy that led to the dismissal of Wu Yin-ning (吳音寧) as general manager in late November last year.
Ko had criticized Wu several times for refusing to report to the Taipei City Council.
Ko said that he aims to start work on the market renovation project before the end of the year and hopes that it could operate smoothly with the cooperation of vendors and the city government.
Vegetable prices dropped by about 30 percent after the Lunar New Year holiday last year, with many attributing it to TAPM’s decision to close wholesale markets for two three-day periods in February.
Having learned from last year’s experience, Ko said that the same situation is unlikely to occur again this year.
Weng’s educational background and work experience show that he has the expertise needed for the job, Ko said.
“I only have two requirements for the TAPM general manager: to have the required expertise and willingness to report to the city council,” he said, adding that the city government had already negotiated with the council on the issue and that it had agreed.
Meanwhile, asked about Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Cho Jung-tai’s (卓榮泰) comment on Tuesday that “the two sides of the Taiwan Strait could become good neighbors, but not one family,” Ko said: “There are various political views in Taiwan.”
“People can hold different political views,” he said. “The most valuable elements of Taiwanese values are democracy, freedom, diversity and openness.”
Asked if Cho’s remarks could mean cooperation between the DPP’s “pan-green” and Ko’s “white” force, he said that even people in the same political party might have different views on various issues, so it is really a matter of what issues they want to cooperate on.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS