Taipei City Government spokesman Liu Yi-ting (劉奕霆) yesterday denied a report that Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) decision to reassign his chief of staff Tsai Pi-ju (蔡壁如) and appoint her as a municipal adviser was intended to please the pan-green camp.
Tsai was relieved from duty shortly after the third anniversary of Ko’s inauguration on Monday last week.
She has worked with Ko for more than 20 years starting when he was a surgeon at National Taiwan University Hospital.
After Liu confirmed the dismissal last week, Ko on Friday told reporters that it was only a rearrangement of duties.
As Tsai has a straightforward personality that might not be appropriate for handling external affairs, she would handle internal affairs at the city government, Ko said, adding that politics is not the only factor to be considered when deciding whether a person is suitable for a post.
The Chinese-language Next Magazine yesterday reported that the arrangement was aimed at pleasing the pan-green camp in consideration of this year’s mayoral election, as Tsai’s outspoken personality was said to have offended many councilors.
Liu yesterday said the duties of municipal advisers would be separated into internal and external affairs, and Tsai would be handling meetings, documents and personnel evaluation at the city government.
The external affairs post remains vacant, Liu said, adding that people should not overinterpret the arrangement.
Tsai has been in charge of contacting and negotiating with external groups regarding city policies, Liu said, adding that after the arrangement she would no longer be contacting them.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
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