The Financial Supervisory Com-mission (FSC) yesterday approved Lee Chin-chen's (李進誠) resignation from his post as a counselor, after he was indicted on Tuesday for alleged involvement in an illegal "vulture" investors group.
Lee decided to resign to minimize damage to the commission after the indictment, and to prepare to defend his innocence with all his might in the upcoming trial, the commission's spokesman Lin Chung-cheng (
Lee was originally head of the FSC's Examination Bureau, but was transferred after coming under fire for allegedly being involved in insider trading.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
Prior to approving Lee's resignation, the FSC had announced that he would be suspended from duty. The FSC said inappropriate behavior -- including meeting and partying with Lin Ming-da (林明達), a suspect in the illegal trading of Power Quotient shares, in improper places such as hostess bars -- had led to a dereliction of duty and met the requirements for suspension.
According to Article 2 of the Law on Discipline of Civil Servants (公務人員懲戒法), public employees who are derelict in their duty face punishments including being removed from their post or suspension of duties.
The decision to suspend Lee marked a reversal of the commission's stance the day before, and came amid mounting public criticism.
The day before, the commission had said it would not suspend Lee until he was found guilty by the courts.
The commission will use high moral standards to evaluate the qualification of candidates for the post of director-general of the commission's Examination Bureau in the future, Lin said.
He did not elaborate on whether the regulator had found a suitable successor.
Earlier yesterday, two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers requested the resignation of FSC Chairman Kong Jaw-sheng (龔照勝), because he had hired Lee.
DPP Legislator Wang Shih-chien (
Wang threatened to launch a signature drive to request Premier Frank Hsieh (
DPP Legislator Charles Chiang (
Chiang also questioned Lee's qualifications for his former job, alleging that he had acquired the position because of a "powerful individual."
The premier said yesterday he did not possess the authorization to relieve Lee of his post but he would ask Lee's supervisor to make proper "arrangements" as soon as possible.
"Lee is a government official who was hired after he passed the national exam so the premier is not authorized to relieve him. But, his [Lee's] supervisor at the FSC can reshuffle and transfer or suspend him from his job," said Government Information Office Minister Pasuya Yao (姚文智), who relayed Hsieh's remarks to the media at a press briefing after the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS