Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) today is to begin a leave of absence to focus on his re-election campaign.
Asked yesterday morning about his feelings on his last working day as mayor, Ko said he does not feel anything in particular, as he just discussed urban renovation issues in a daily meeting and still had to review many documents.
Ko also said that his campaign director Hsiao Yeh (小野) is a “nice person,” after Hsiao Yeh appeared in a promotional video for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), stirring speculation over Ko’s political stance.
Photo: CNA
Ko had earlier said that he respects Hsiao Yeh’s decision to support Chen, as election and political party preferences are not the only concerns in personal relationships.
He added yesterday that Hsiao Yeh is a nice person with a good reputation, who has hardly received any negative comments from the cultural industries.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) on Tuesday wrote on Facebook that film director Wu Nien-jen (吳念真) and Hsiao Yeh are the two “cultural door-gods for the pan-green camp” and said that Ko asked Hsiao Yeh to be his campaign director in a bid to win DPP supporters’ votes.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Ting in the past few days has repeatedly claimed that the DPP is planning to give up on its Taipei mayoral candidate, Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智), to pour extra effort into Chen’s campaign.
Many supporters of KMT Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) left comments on Ko’s Facebook page, calling him a fake independent.
Ko said he asked Hsiao Yeh to be his campaign director because Hsiao Yeh was his teacher during his first year in college, and because his rich experience in the arts could improve weaker aspects of his team.
Hsiao Yeh said that Ko did not ask him to become his campaign director because he is skilled at electoral manipulation, but because Ko has read his books and watched his movies, and wanted him to help formulate cultural policies.
He said he has so far not criticized any candidate, but is disappointed that Ting unfairly criticized his friend Wu.
He said he has begun to doubt whether Ting really understands the nation’s cultural development, adding that his conspiracies regarding the DPP’s strategy are deeply hurting everyone involved.
Hsiao Yeh said that he left the KMT-affiliated Central Motion Picture Corp at the age of 37 and began writing books about culture, ecology and education without support from any political party.
Bursting into tears three times, Hsiao Yeh spoke about Wu’s contributions to Taiwanese culture, including a project they started with film director Ko I-chen (柯一正) to hold art performances for children in all 319 townships across the nation without any government or political party funding.
“I am not dependent on political parties, and my friend Wu Nien-jen has contributed much to Taiwan. I do not want to start a verbal battle, but he [Ting] called us door gods who control the industry,” he said, adding that he is sad to see such politically motivated smearing.
EVA Airways was ranked the eighth-best airline in the world for this year, the only Taiwanese carrier to make it into the top 25 Airline Excellence Awards this year, aviation reviews Web site AirlineRatings.com said on Wednesday. AirlineRatings.com has a seven-star rating system to evaluate more than 360 airlines around the world every year, EVA Airways said in a statement on Thursday. “We are delighted that efforts by the entire EVA staff have been recognized by Airline Ratings,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said in the release. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company identified and adopted services and procedures that enhance and
Tropical storm Guchol is moving in a northeasterly direction off the east coast of the Philippines and will not hit Taiwan, but will impact local weather starting on Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said Thursday. The storm would bring a low-pressure system northward toward the vicinity of Taiwan, forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. Northern Taiwan will see intermittent rain showers in the morning, and thunderstorms in the afternoon on Friday, he said, adding that rain would be heavier on the east coast and in the central-southern mountainous areas. Rainfall would continue into Saturday, and would spread throughout Taiwan proper, he
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
#METOO MOVEMENT: A woman who formerly worked at the TPP said that she was repeatedly harassed by a party deputy secretary last year and it was covered up Vice President and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman William Lai (賴清德) yesterday announced new party procedures for filing complaints and investigating reports of sexual misconduct in response to more accusations of negligence against the party in handling reports of sexual abuse. In what local media dubbed Taiwan’s #MeToo movement, more people went public yesterday with allegations about the DPP, other parties and local governments. Lai said he deeply regrets the situation and apologized to the victims, while also praising them for having the courage to come forward. “When facing bullying and violations in the workplace, it is most important to stand up to
RSS