All employees for the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung will be hired in an open and transparent manner, the head of the organizing committee promised yesterday after Kaohsiung City councilors across party lines accused her of persistently ignoring employment protocols.
This is not the first time that Olympic track and field bronze medalist Chi Cheng (紀政), the chief executive officer of the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee, has come under fire for seemingly going against the government's recruitment procedures.
Despite admitting that she had violated procedure in the recent hiring of three professionals, Chi said that they were all experts in their respective fields.
The criticism came during a meeting yesterday morning when Chi was giving a report on the progress of preparations for the games.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) City Councilor Lin Kuo-cheng (
Lin said Chi's unwillingness to follow the rules had put an extra burden on the city's auditing department and something had to be done to ensure an open and fair recruitment process.
Chen Hsin-yu (
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) in June ordered that all recruitment had to be transparent, but Chi still approved the three names without ever making their positions available to the public, Chen said.
It is estimated that more than 3,200 athletes from 90 countries will participate in the games. More than 100,000 tourists are expected to visit, in addition to 300 foreign VIPs and 300 media workers from around the world.
The games will cost NT$1.76 billion (US$54 million), the committee has said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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