◎ Kang Junming
Former Hualien County Health Director Zhu Jiaxiang said that he was dismissed from his post because he refused the Secretary-General’s Office’s request to mobilize support for You Shuzhen, the Kuomintang candidate for Hualien County Magistrate. (File photo)
The Hualien County Government recently made personnel changes at the Buda level, and the director of health, Zhu Jiaxiang, resigned. Zhu Jiaxiang publicly stated that he was asked to leave his post as director because he refused the secretary-general's office's request to mobilize support for the Kuomintang Hualien county magistrate candidate You Shuzhen, which quickly attracted attention from all walks of life. The Hualien County Government later downplayed the matter as a "normal personnel transfer" and affirmed Zhu Jiaxiang's performance during his tenure. This response ironically proves that Zhu Jiaxiang is not incompetent, but an outstanding talent deeply trusted by the people of Hualien. As a political affairs officer, Director Zhu still adheres to administrative neutrality and refuses to invest public resources in political mobilization. However, in the special political soil of Hualien, law-abiding and neutrality are not protected by the system, but have become suspected reasons for removal.
Looking back at Zhu Jiaxiang's tenure, it can be called Hualien's most difficult test in recent years. From the Taroko train derailment tragedy, the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic, to the 0403 earthquake and the Matai'anxi barrier lake crisis, major disasters affecting local life and death have occurred during his term of office. Especially during the peak period of the epidemic, he demonstrated administrative coordination and appeal, integrating many western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine clinics in the county to provide home care in a short period of time, building a front line for epidemic prevention in Hualien. His efforts have been recognized nationwide and he has been awarded awards including the Taiwan Medical Model Award. However, these merits, expertise and sweat seem extremely cheap in the face of Hualien's political calculations.
During the epidemic, under the leadership of Zhu Jiaxiang, Hualien launched a home care plan to reduce the capacity of dedicated wards and simultaneously conducted "home care team training." (Provided by Hualien County Health Bureau)
It is Rao Zhong who is suspected of exerting pressure and mobilization on Director Zhu and demanding his resignation. In the past, it can be said that the more controversial Rao Zhong was, the faster he was promoted. From environmental protection director to secretary-general, this personnel change has directly promoted him to deputy county magistrate. He has a tough style and once angrily denounced and questioned members of parliament in parliament. After the 0403 earthquake, he also blamed all the blame for the lower than expected private fundraising on "the Internet" at a briefing for victims of the 0403 earthquake, which aroused the anger of the victims and left the venue in protest. An official who ignored the suffering of the victims, was entangled in controversy, and was suspected of suppressing administrative neutrality was re-appointed and promoted; but a professional director who fulfilled his duties and protected the health of the people was forced to resign. The Hualien County Government’s employment logic of “nepotism and officials protecting each other” is fully exposed here.
Rao Zhong, the deputy county magistrate of Hualien County, has been promoted step by step in his official career. This personnel change has led him to be directly promoted to deputy county magistrate. It is suspected that he was the one who put pressure and mobilization on Zhu Jiaxiang this time. (File photo)
This incident reflects the impact of political operations on people's vital rights and interests. In Hualien, where the highest power has long been controlled by Fu Kunqi and his wife, there is a lack of rotation and effective supervision, and it has gradually evolved into a closed "family world" structure. Public administration resources are increasingly privatized, and the civil service system no longer serves the rule of law and the people, but instead obeys the will of a specific family. Now that the highly controversial Rao Zhong has been promoted to deputy county magistrate, can he be regarded as the executor of the "Fu family's will" in the government? When "administrative neutrality" becomes a crime for eliminating dissidents, has Hualien quietly become the absurd epitome of "one country, two systems" under democratic Taiwan? Hualien people should take a serious look.
Hualien, long controlled by Fu Kunqi and his wife, now has a closed "family world" structure. Public administrative resources are increasingly privatized. The civil service system no longer serves the rule of law and the people, but obeys the will of a specific family. (File photo)
