The Executive Yuan has selected former Kaohsiung City Government secretary-general Yang Ming-jou (楊明州) as Kaohsiung acting mayor, sources with knowledge of the matter said yesterday.
Yang, an independent, was chosen due to his vast experience in handling municipal affairs and because he was not affiliated with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the sources said.
Yang was acceptable to the pan-blue and pan-green camps, easing tensions in preparation for a Kaohsiung mayoral by-election after Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) was recalled on Saturday last week, they said.
Photo: Ko Yu-hao, Taipei Times
With the typhoon season approaching, Yang has the experience to facilitate rescue and flood relief missions, they said.
His experience in municipal affairs also makes him an ideal acting mayor as the Kaohsiung City Council begins a month-long intensive question-and-answer session on Friday next week, they added.
Yang, who has served in the Kaohsiung City Government for 36 years, started his career as an engineer at the city’s Public Works Bureau, before moving up the ranks to become head of the bureau and later deputy mayor under former Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu (陳菊).
After Han took office on Dec. 25, 2018, Yang was transferred to the post of Kaohsiung City Government secretary-general, before being demoted to his current position as city government counselor.
Asked to comment on the purported appointment, Yang said that a civil servant cannot choose his “battlefield,” and that he would respect his superiors’ decision.
In related developments, DPP Kaohsiung City Councilor Kao Min-lin (高閔琳) on Wednesday said that she would not support DPP Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) becoming acting mayor.
Chen Chi-mai, a popular candidate for the post, would likely join the Kaohsiung mayoral by-election in three months, so it would create a conflict of interest if he was appointed acting mayor, Kao said.
Appointing Chen Chi-mai, who lost to Han in the 2018 Kaohsiung mayoral election, would further aggravate Han’s supporters and give the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) an excuse to deepen rifts in society, she said.
The DPP seems to have arrived at a consensus to back Chen Chi-mai in the by-election, so it should give him time to focus on his campaign rather than taking on a role likely preoccupied with floods, she added.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS