Legislators across party lines yesterday panned the government's financial management over the Rebar Group saga, with pan-blue lawmakers demanding that top-ranking government officials step down to assume responsibility for the debacle.
Several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators took Premier Su Tseng-chang (
Two of the Rebar Asia Pacific Group's (
This in turn triggered a bank run on another group member, The Chinese Bank (
Rebar Group chairman Wang You-theng (
DPP Legislator Charles Chiang (
"The Chinese Bank had been in trouble for a long time," he said. "How did [Wang] manage to walk away with the money?"
Chiang said that the FSC should have taken over or supervised the bank instead of "sitting on a landmine."
"Premier Su, you did not meet public expectations in terms of financial management," Chiang said.
"We hope you can show some resolve [in dealing with the matter]," Chiang added.
DPP Legislator Yu Jan-daw (余政道) said he suspected some government officials or legislators might have been helping the bank to cover up its poor financial conditions.
DPP Legislator Wu Ming-ming (
In a separate press conference, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) called for FSC Chairman Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉) and Minister of Finance Ho Chih-chin (何志欽) to assume responsibility and step down.
"As The Chinese Bank has been under government supervision for five years as Shih himself said, why was there a run on the bank?" he asked.
"[It happened] because the government does not take financial management seriously," Tsai added.
"Shih should take responsibility for this," Tsai added.
KMT Legislator Chi Kuo-tung (
"The [Financial Restructuring Fund] is supposed to facilitate the restructuring or liquidation of poor-quality assets in the banking industry, but the government has only used the fund to salvage banks whose assets had been stolen by the banks' management," Chi said.
People First Party lawmakers also called a press conference, issuing the same demands.
"The legislature had given the government the carrot and stick it said it needed to maintain financial order. But why did it let The Chinese Bank incident happen?" asked PFP Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄).
Liu was referring to the fund as the carrot and the financial regulator as the stick.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS