Taipei Mayor Ko-Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that he respects political commentator Yao Li-ming’s (姚立明) plan to support Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) if he runs for Taipei mayor this year.
Yao Li-ming, who was Ko’s chief campaign director during the 2014 election, made the remark during a television interview with political talk show host Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀) on Tuesday.
“I think Pasuya Yao will be a good mayor,” he said. “Whether he gets nominated by his party or not, if he decides to run for election, I am willing to be his chief campaign director.”
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Pasuya Yao responded on Facebook that night that he felt like he “has seen blue skies after rain.”
He said he hoped he could show the DPP and its supporters what “Taiwanese values” signify if he becomes mayor.
Ko, who is visiting the Netherlands, was asked by Taiwanese reporters whether he would still ask Yao Li-ming to assist him.
“Strategically speaking, there should be more friends and fewer enemies,” Ko said, adding that it is important to always leave room for cooperation.
In related news, online news outlet Storm Media on Monday reported that Ko had instructed city officials to blacklist one of its reporters for reporting on why former Taipei Department of Tourism and Information Commissioner Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) resigned and details about the city’s preparations for the Lantern Festival.
Ko denied blacklisting the reporter, but said that 30 percent of the reporter’s story was false,” which caused trouble and affected mutual trust.
He added that he told city officials ought to be aware of unusual news leakages.
Ko’s action was criticized by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
“An elected official, especially the mayor of a major city, should not be so quick to disparage the media, whose work is essential for democracies to function well,” Taipei-based East Asia bureau head Cedric Alviani said in a statement on the RSF Web site on Tuesday.
Ko yesterday said that news reporters are not professional if they do not check facts or seek balance in their stories.
While reporters have the right to interview, people also have the right to be interviewed, the mayor added.
Ko said he would deal with the issue when he returns to Taiwan.
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
The Chinese wife of a Taiwanese, surnamed Liu (劉), who openly advocated for China’s use of force against Taiwan, would be forcibly deported according to the law if she has not left Taiwan by Friday, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said yesterday. Liu, an influencer better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), obtained permanent residency via marriage to a Taiwanese. She has been reported for allegedly repeatedly espousing pro-unification comments on her YouTube and TikTok channels, including comments supporting China’s unification with Taiwan by force and the Chinese government’s stance that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.” Liu
FATE UNKNOWN: The owner of the dog could face a fine of up to NT$150,000 and the animal could be euthanized if he cannot show that he can effectively supervise it A pit bull terrier has been confiscated by authorities after it yesterday morning bit a motorcyclist in Taipei, following footage of the same dog in a similar attack going viral online earlier this month. When the owner, surnamed Hsu (徐), stopped at a red light on Daan District’s (大安) Wolong Street at 8am, the dog, named “Lucky,” allegedly rolled down the automatic window of the pickup truck they were riding in, leapt out of the rear passenger window and attacked a motorcyclist behind them, Taipei’s Daan District Police Precinct said. The dog clamped down on the man’s leg and only let go
RSS