The Control Yuan yesterday reached an agreement to impeach Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng (
The decision makes Tzeng the first educational minister in history -- and also the first Cabinet member in the newly formulated government -- to be impeached by the country's supreme watchdog body.
"The conclusion was made after careful consideration ? Nine out of 10 members of the special task force supported the impeachment decision. Tzeng breached two regulations -- Article 10 of the Nationality Law's Enforcement Statute (
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
According to Article 10 of the Nationality Law's Enforcement Statute, employees of state-run education facilities are public officials and have to give up citizenship of other countries.
The Nationality Law was subsequently revised in February of this year, stating that only those who gain approval from their supervisors can hold dual citizenship and serve as the president of a national university.
When Tzeng held the previously stated three posts, he was in violation Article 10 of the Nationality Law's Enforcement Statute.
Even after the Nationality Law was amended, the minister still transgressed Article 20 of the newly revised Nationality Law on the ground that he never applied for approval from the Ministry of Education -- his direct supervisory unit at the time, Lin said.
"In August 1998, the Examination Yuan's Ministry of Personnel released an order to all public officials, requesting them to renounce dual citizenship within a year.
Tzeng ignored the directive. In March of 1999, when Tzeng bid to become the president of YMU, he promised that he would forsake his US citizenship if elected. He was elected and started his stint in June 1999. He then notified the school authorities that he would give up his US citizenship within a year.
The deadline to carry out this promise was June 29 of this year," Lin continued. "Though Tzeng stressed that he had gone to the American Institute in Taiwan to officially give up his US citizenship on June 5, the procedures were not completed until July 14, which was too late."
The related documents will be sent to the Committee on the Discipline of Public Functionaries (CDPF,
Member Li Shen-yi (
"The decision will not affect Tzeng's current post as the minister of education, but he is still liable for his misconduct in the past," he said.
Upon hearing the news, Tzeng said that he respected the decision made by the Control Yuan, adding that he would abide by the laws of the country. "If the impeachment is confirmed and the relating legal procedures are completed, I will do what is right according to the law."
Chung Chin (鍾琴), director of the Government Information Office (新聞局), told the media after being told the news that what Tzeng had done in the past did indeed leave plenty of room for criticism.
"We all feel regret about the consequences of his actions and will accept the decision made by the CDPF," she added.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS