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.
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