Two top officials of the Presidential Office yesterday denied media reports of conflicts within the National Security Council (NSC), saying that recent personnel adjustments were designed to improve its functions.
"There is no reshuffle or reorganization going on in the NSC. Those rumors are completely without truth," NSC Secretary-General Kang Ning-hsiang (
The resignation of NSC deputy secretary general Chang Jung-feng (
Kang, accompanied by Presidential Office Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
Kang said that when he read reports that NSC Deputy Secretary-General Antonio Chiang (
"Then I immediately called Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (
Kang said that leaks themselves indicated there were some problems within the council that would have to be addressed.
Chiou said Kang's work was very difficult, primarily because the NSC was an old organization with special characteristics and because specious reports about it frequently surfaced in the media.
"On top of this, the NSC's annual budget is not even NT$150 million. It's a poor government agency and is even smaller than the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission," Chiou said.
Chiou and Kang once were opponents and had clashed when they were leaders of the opposition movement in the 1980s before the DPP was formed. Chiou, who then was a young democratic theorist and radical grassroots activist, attacked Kang for wanting to reform the country by joining the KMT-dominated system.
Kang mentioned the unpleasant experiences yesterday after Chiou spoke.
"I am moved to see that Chiou is defending me because he was in the past a vehement opponent and has criticized me severely over many decades," Kang said.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
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