Four cross-party Zhubei citizen representative candidates including Zhang Yihao, a former Zhubei City Office official in Hsinchu County, questioned today (11th) that on the afternoon of Friday, October 13, 2023, Zhubei Mayor Zheng Chaofang was suspected of using official resources to carry out non-official travel during working hours. They requested the Municipal Office and Zheng Chaofang to disclose the day's itinerary and driving records and explain clearly to the citizens. In response, the Zhubei City Government said it would not respond.
Zhang Yihao pointed out that cross comparison of leaked photos and street view data showed that Zheng Chaofang took a Zhubei City Office official car at 2:30 pm on a normal working day on October 13, 2023 (Friday) and arrived at the intersection of Zhonghua Road Section 1 and Zhonghua Road Section 76 in Wanhua District, Taipei City, and got off alone.
Zhang Yihao said that the place is located right in front of the West Gate Hotel, surrounded by well-known chain restaurants and entertainment stores, and there are no central or local government administrative agencies within the radius. Since using an official car and accompanying a secretary should be an official trip, why did the mayor get off the car alone without the secretary after arriving? It is puzzling whether he went to the hotel or the restaurant to "have business meetings." He demanded that the city office must publish the day's itinerary records, official vehicle driving recorder data, and the accompanying secretary's dispatch basis to clarify whether it is consistent with official purposes.
In this regard, Zhubei citizen representative candidate Chen Guanyu also raised four questions, asking for an explanation as to why Zheng Chaofang appeared in Ximending, Taipei during working hours, who exactly he met with, what specific matters were discussed that day, and whether the relevant people and content of the meeting were directly related to the Zhubei Municipal Government.
Li Xinran, a Zhubei citizen representative candidate from the Kuomintang Party, said that as the head of local administration, it is reasonable for the mayor to go out for surveys, cross-county and city coordination or official negotiations, but as long as official time and public resources are used, complete and transparent records must be kept to withstand the inspection of the citizens.
Huang Yuwen, a candidate for Zhubei citizen representative from the Kuomintang, called on Zheng Chaofang, nominated by the DPP, to personally respond to external questions and carry out sincere public communication, instead of just manipulating public opinion through social platforms or criticizing dissidents through online messages. If the municipal government can stand the test, the mayor should openly demonstrate the substantial benefits that official visits have brought to Zhubei.
Zhang Yihao further emphasized that in the past, the Taiwan Forward Front severely questioned the opacity of Hsinchu County Mayor Yang Wenke’s overseas itinerary and funding, and strongly demanded a public explanation; now Zheng Chaofang is also facing doubts about his official schedule during working hours, and the outside world is also paying attention to whether the front and citizen groups from all walks of life will uphold the same supervision standards, and jointly require Zheng Chaofang to come forward to clear up the doubts. He called for the supervision of public affairs to be free from partisanship, and for administrative transparency to be free from double standards.
