Council of Agriculture Chairman Lee Chin-lung (李金龍) has tendered his resignation twice over the past two days, but will stay on to take responsibility for the Alishan train crash, Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
"The premier didn't approve Lee's resignation because the accident didn't result from faulty decision-making by Lee but from careless execution," Lin quoted Premier Yu Shyi-kun as saying yesterday.
Yu made the remark during a closed-door meeting where he listened to the briefing on the accident presented by the agriculture council, interior ministry, health department and defense ministry.
According to Lin, Lee tendered his resignation, both verbally and in writing, twice since the accident took place on Saturday.
Instead of quitting, Lin said, Lee should focus on how to prevent similar accidents from happening again.
Bowing to the public to express his personal apology, Lee yesterday also took the opportunity to dismiss media reports that the accident took place because the four-carriage train was overloaded.
"Records show that 1,073 tickets were sold that day. In other words, there was an average of 179 passengers in each of the six trains that went up the mountain that day. However, each train can carry 200 people," he said.
Lee yesterday also revealed the names of council officials who have been held responsible for the accident.
Huang Yu-hsing (黃裕星), director of the agriculture council's forestry bureau, was transferred to a non-administrative position. He offered his resignation on the day of the accident.
Huang's position will be temporarily filled by Lee Tao-sheng (李桃生), the bureau's deputy director.
In addition, Hung Ming-chuan (洪明川), director of the forestry management office in Chiayi County, will be transferred to a technician's position. Deputy director Yung Chao-shun (楊昭勳) will temporarily take over Hung's position.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we