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Taipei candidate slams city govt. for 'abnormal' weekend political attacks on civil servants

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Po-yang criticized the city government's weekend press releases as inappropriate political attacks.
  • Shen argued that using city departments for political combat and forcing civil servants to work overtime on weekends is abnormal and stressful.
  • He proposed improving civil servants' work environment with flexible hours, better childcare, and AI integration to retain talent and boost efficiency.

Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Po-yang on Sunday criticized the city government's use of weekend press releases for political attacks, calling it an "abnormal" practice that forces civil servants into overtime and political combat.

We are talking about the establishment of a transportation network.

— Shen Po-yangShen Po-yang clarifying his remarks on the 'skyline' issue.

The city's Department of Cultural Affairs issued statements on Saturday and Sunday to counter criticism of its "Taipei Grand Traverse" hiking project. Shen argued that this constitutes "de facto overtime" and drags city departments into political disputes, which he believes is unhealthy for governance.

If superiors directly order civil servants to do things without considering their existing workload, policy execution will be insufficient and create too much pressure.

— Shen Po-yangShen Po-yang explaining the impact of excessive pressure on civil servants.

"We are talking about the establishment of a transportation network," Shen said, clarifying his earlier remarks about the "skyline" issue. He expressed concern that frontline civil servants are under excessive pressure, leading to significant staff shortages in some departments. "If superiors directly order civil servants to do things without considering their existing workload, policy execution will be insufficient and create too much pressure," he stated.

Taipei's civil servants are under excessive pressure, leading to significant staff shortages in some departments.

— Shen Po-yangShen Po-yang describing the current working conditions for Taipei's civil servants.

Shen also pointed out a contradiction in Mayor Chiang Wan-an's actions. Chiang promotes "parental leave reduced working hours" for the private sector while city employees are reportedly working on weekends. Shen suggested practical improvements for civil servants, such as flexible working hours, better childcare options near the workplace, and AI integration to reduce workload. He urged the mayor to focus on substantive policy discussions rather than symbolic gestures like the "Javier's Bench" unveiling.

We cannot inaugurate something and set up a bench, but the things you do are not Javier's things. This is not substantive communication for us.

— Shen Po-yangShen Po-yang criticizing symbolic gestures over substantive policy discussions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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