The administration of Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) has been saddled with its first bad debt, after the city council refused to budget for last year’s annual Taipei-Shanghai forum.
The Taipei City Council in 2021 said that it would block the budget for the annual event as long as China continued to hold military drills in the Taiwan Strait.
Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) last year continued with the forum despite cross-party protests, and the city council passed a resolution prohibiting city funding from being used for the event, requiring Ko to “pay for it himself.”
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Ko instead used city funds for the event, but the current administration is not able to write off the expenses, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) told reporters on Sunday.
“The city’s audit office said it could not write off the NT$950,000 Ko spent on the forum. It can only be left for Chiang’s administration to deal with,” Lee said.
“I will appeal to the audit office again, but if they are still unwilling to write it off, what can be done? The money is spent,” Lee added.
Asked whether Chiang would go after Ko for the money, Lee said that since Chiang was not in office when the money was spent, it would be hard for him to hold Ko accountable.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) city councilors on Sunday said that Ko had “contravened the resolution of the city council, and disrespected public opinion — now this will be his legacy.”
The Taiwan People’s Party — which Ko chairs — said that Ko had “achieved many substantial results through attending the forum every year.”
“If there are any political issues related to the city that need to be worked out today, that should be handled by the Chiang administration,” it said.
Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted a photograph of her bankbook and bank stamp on Facebook at the time, writing “I put these on the table, you can come and take them.”
“You should go and ask Ko for the money back,” DPP Taipei City Councilor Lin Yan-feng (林延鳳) told Chiang during a city council meeting yesterday, referring to the post.
Chiang said that he would file a complaint with the audit office, and would communicate with the city council regarding progress on the issue.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS