Diamonds and dirty secrets
Former Hsinchu deputy mayor Tsai Li-Ching (蔡麗清) was forced to resign in the most humiliating manner, suggesting that she had failed to fulfill Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao’s (高虹安) “political and personal expectations.”
Kao had been hoping that Tsai could reveal Hsinchu Baseball Stadium’s “dirty little secret,” clearly identifying the risky condition of the field resulting from faulty renovations conducted under former Hsinchu mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
However, Kao, who belongs to the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), has a “dirty little secret” of her own.
Changes to the contract’s design specifications have led to the current safety concerns at Hsinchu Baseball Stadium, and these would best be fixed by pushing the contractor to modify the renovation project plans. Instead, since taking office, Kao has misused a great deal of public funds “investigating” Lin’s errors by digging into the field, but still found no “dirty little secret” either underneath the ground or table.
Kao attempted to take advantage of Tsai’s status as a former prosecutor in the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office to make Lin’s irresponsibility and corruption in the renovation case publicly convincing, and to further decrease support for the DPP.
What else was Tsai expected to do for Kao?
Kao was last year accused of payroll deduction fraud and was surprisingly not indicted due to “insufficient evidence.” Tsai, a legal professional, makes every decision based on evidence. Kao’s seamless plan was thus to make use of Tsai’s status and legal “help” as a former prosecutor to get rid of the ongoing and possibly upcoming legal issues.
Kao’s fraud case caused a stir during the previous mayoral election, showing she would be neither a good employer nor a reliable mayor. Yet voters in Hsinchu City believed Kao could be a responsible mayor.
The winner of a landslide election does not always end up a perfect fit. Such are the idiosyncrasies of democracy.
Kao has done nothing but poor municipal management and place last in the poll over her eight-month run. The reality has disappointed Hsinchu residents, but they must take responsibility for their own predicament, since they insisted on voting for a candidate involved in a scandal.
A mayor of real talent and vision for the city should make municipal affairs a top priority. If she becomes obsessed with unveiling the former mayor’s “misconduct,” it is no wonder that the deputy mayor would be asked to leave.
Chiu Ping-chin
Taipei
President William Lai (賴清德) attended a dinner held by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) when representatives from the group visited Taiwan in October. In a speech at the event, Lai highlighted similarities in the geopolitical challenges faced by Israel and Taiwan, saying that the two countries “stand on the front line against authoritarianism.” Lai noted how Taiwan had “immediately condemned” the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas and had provided humanitarian aid. Lai was heavily criticized from some quarters for standing with AIPAC and Israel. On Nov. 4, the Taipei Times published an opinion article (“Speak out on the
More than a week after Hondurans voted, the country still does not know who will be its next president. The Honduran National Electoral Council has not declared a winner, and the transmission of results has experienced repeated malfunctions that interrupted updates for almost 24 hours at times. The delay has become the second-longest post-electoral silence since the election of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez of the National Party in 2017, which was tainted by accusations of fraud. Once again, this has raised concerns among observers, civil society groups and the international community. The preliminary results remain close, but both
News about expanding security cooperation between Israel and Taiwan, including the visits of Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) in September and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) this month, as well as growing ties in areas such as missile defense and cybersecurity, should not be viewed as isolated events. The emphasis on missile defense, including Taiwan’s newly introduced T-Dome project, is simply the most visible sign of a deeper trend that has been taking shape quietly over the past two to three years. Taipei is seeking to expand security and defense cooperation with Israel, something officials
The Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation has demanded an apology from China Central Television (CCTV), accusing the Chinese state broadcaster of using “deceptive editing” and distorting the intent of a recent documentary on “comfort women.” According to the foundation, the Ama Museum in Taipei granted CCTV limited permission to film on the condition that the footage be used solely for public education. Yet when the documentary aired, the museum was reportedly presented alongside commentary condemning Taiwan’s alleged “warmongering” and criticizing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s stance toward Japan. Instead of focusing on women’s rights or historical memory, the program appeared crafted
RSS