Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday said the city government would look into EasyCard Corp’s Emerging Stock Market listing process shortly before a change in administration in December last year.
Local media outlets on Thursday said that Chiang was none too pleased to learn that the city government, led by then-mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), had made the decision about EasyCard’s listing just before Ko’s term ended, saying it would dilute the government’s shares in the company.
EasyCard on Dec. 9 announced that its board had approved its plan to apply for listing on the Taipei Exchange’s Emerging Stock Market. Ko stepped down from his post on Dec. 25, and the company debuted on the stock market in January.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
During a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council on Friday last week, Chiang said that the decisionmaking process for EasyCard’s listing appeared rushed, and a caretaker government should respect public opinion when making a major decision that would affect a company’s future operations and the disposal of public property.
Chiang said he has instructed Taipei City Government Secretary-General Lee Tai-hsin (李泰興) to gather officials from the city’s departments of legal affairs, finance and transportation, and EasyCard this week to gain an understanding of the case.
Ko on Friday said that Chiang is not familiar with city government administration, as any decision must be made by the company’s board of directors and the Financial Supervisory Commission.
Ko added that the decision to list the company would not affect the city government’s rights and would make it more difficult to interfere with the company’s decisions.
Former EasyCard chairwoman Ting Chen (陳亭如) yesterday wrote on Facebook that the company had reported to Chiang and city government officials about the listing in late December and again on Jan. 11, so the city government must know about it.
Asked about Ting’s comments, Chiang yesterday said the decision was made last year and submitted for review before the new city councilors took office, which was disrespectful of public administration procedures.
As city councilors and the public have concerns about the case, the city government would look into it as his first priority is the rights of the city’s residents, he added.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS