Independence activist Koh Se-kai (
Koh met yesterday with former Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara, who is leading a delegation to attend President Chen Shui-bian's (
Koh, a law and political science professor at Formosa University, has also been invited by Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) to join the Presidential Office's human rights task force.
Mark Chen disclosed the upcoming appointment when receiving foreign guests at the CKS Airport yesterday for Chen Shui-bian's upcoming inauguration.
Koh was born in 1934 and earned a doctorate at Tokyo University.
A senior leader of the nation's independence movement, he was elected chairman of the World United Formosans for Independence in 1987 and chairman of the Taiwan Independence Party in 1998.
"Koh, Lo and Minister Chen are all comrades in fighting for Taiwan's democracy. They were all members of Formosans for Independence," said Ng Chiau-tong (
"I think that Koh's priority is to realize a public meeting of high-ranking Taiwanese and Japanese officials as soon as possible," Ng said.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet said yesterday that outgoing minister of economic affairs Lin Yi-fu (林義夫) accepted an offer to take up the vacancy for the last of the Cabinet's seven ministers without portfolio. Lin will be in charge of reviewing bills and projects related to finance and economics.
The managing director of the Cabinet's Aviation Safety Council, Yong Kay (
Once the legislature gives the establishment of the NCC the go-ahead, the long-anticipated agency will be established under the Executive Yuan as an independent entity to supervise the nation's telecommunications and media industries.
Currently, the media industry is regulated by the Government Information Office (GIO), while the telecommunications industry falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Ministry of National Defense.
In appointments of No. 2 positions at Cabinet agencies, Lee Ruey-tsang (
Thomas Yeh (葉明峰), director of the Cabinet's fourth division in charge of finance and economics, will be promoted to vice chairman of the Council of Economic Planning and Development (CEPD). Yeh used to serve as the secretary-general of the CEPD.
Ting-kuei (
Yang Tzu-pao (
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
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