A military medical college professor who had mocked President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) while giving lectures to officers in the combined logistics command in October was urged to step down yesterday.
DPP Legislator Chang Ching-fang (
"Pan is a liar. The Taichung-based Chungtai Institute of Health Sciences and Technology, which hired him, should consider whether Pan is still fit to be a teacher. It is better not to let this kind of teacher do more harm to the students," Chang said in a press conference at the legislature yesterday.
He criticized Pan for his mockery of Chen in front of military officers.
Chang said Pan engaged in "improper behavior" during four lectures he gave to more than 200 officers of the combined logistics command in October.
Pan was a career officer who had just retired from the military early this year. He had been teaching for years at the Chung Cheng Institute of Technology, where he had been the chairman of the engineering department. After retiring from the military, he got a job at the Taichung-based medical college.
Pan has been invited for two consecutive years by the combined logistics command to give lectures to medium-ranked officers on the prevention of nuclear, biological and chemical attacks.
Pan did not create any trouble last year. But this year, Pan seemed to become a different man.
During the four lectures in October, Pan compared Chen to a man "whose brain could be cured by radiation therapy" and "who was so incompetent that all his followers became crazy."
Chang said he called the press conference because Pan did not show any sign of regret for his insulting of the president.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
TRAVEL CONVENIENCE: The program is to shorten wait times while passing through airport checks and would start for Taiwanese from January next year Japan is to launch a new program to expedite entry procedures for Taiwanese starting from January next year. The Japanese government is planning to introduce new rules to shorten the time it takes foreign travelers to pass through immigration, thereby attracting more tourists to visit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. An airport preclearance program would be implemented to allow foreign travelers to finish some screenings at their departure airport’s terminals and undergo simple confirmation procedures upon arrival, it said. The program would initially be applied to travelers from Taiwan from January next year and could be extended to travelers from elsewhere depending
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
The US military is confident that it would win a war against China if a conflict broke out in the Taiwan Strait, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Charles Q. Brown said at a forum on Saturday. During an interview at the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado, on Saturday, CNN reporter Jennifer Griffin asked Brown about the possible outcome of a US-China war in the Taiwan Strait. “Can the US win a war against China if Beijing tries to take Taiwan, from your military perspective?” Griffin asked. “I’m fully confident in our forces. You should be too. We