Former New Party legislator Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大), whose employment by the Taipei City Government, allegedly to help her meet pension requirements, triggered a controversy, yesterday said she had resigned.
Hsieh made the announcement after Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) reproached her for traveling to China to appear on a Chinese TV talk show where she criticized the recent Sunflower movement protests at the Legislative Yuan and elsewhere in Taiwan.
Her appearance was reported in local media on Wednesday.
Photo: CNA
“I have officially tendered my resignation to Mayor Hau and hereby announce that I will not receive any pension. I will not tolerate media and politicians’ attacks on my integrity,” she told a press conference, which lasted only 30 seconds.
Last week, Taipei City councilors raised questions about the hiring of Hsieh in July last year and her promotion to senior specialist in the city government’s secretariat ahead of her 65th birthday, when she would qualify for a civil service pension because she had 22 years of civil service work before she moved to China for 10 years.
They also criticized her exemption from having to clock in and out, and from being graded according to civil servant employment standards — possible violations of the Civil Service Act (公務員服務法) — and questioned both her involvement in a lawsuit as a volunteer defense attorney and whether she also held People’s Republic of China citizenship.
Neither the Taipei City Government nor Hsieh responded to the questions, although related investigations are still ongoing.
Hsieh yesterday said that she decided to quit because she “cherished [her] reputation and dignity more than a pension.”
During the talk show, Hsieh said: “It is not true that ‘the people’ are always right.”
“Look at the recent occupation of the Legislative Yuan. Was it right? Absolutely not. There was someone behind the scenes using [the Sunflower movement],” she said.
Hau on Wednesday said her remarks were very inappropriate for a civil servant.
The mayor yesterday said Hsieh’s trip to China and appearance on the TV show had not been officially reported or approved.
“I would say this was one of the determining factors in her resignation,” he said.
In related news, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chiu Yi’s (邱毅) remarks on a Chinese political talk show during the Sunflower movement’s occupation of the legislature were criticized by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) at a meeting of the legislature’s Interior Committee yesterday.
Tuan questioned the appropriateness of Chiu, who is a board member of state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油), appearing on a Chinese talk show, where he claimed the Sunflower movement was a plot by the DPP.
Tuan said Chiu had also insulted the Legislative Yuan by referring to it as “a legislative body.”
The Chinese government censors the use of “Legislative Yuan” in connection with Taiwan because it connotes a national-level institution.
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