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.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
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