The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) highest decision-making body yesterday announced its list of Control Yuan nominees and will send it to the Presidential Office.
Operations at the nation's supreme watchdog were stopped on Jan. 31, 2005, when the terms of the previous Control Yuan members expired. Because of the opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan's refusal to endorse President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) list of nominees, the Control Yuan seats have remained unfilled for the past two years.
Chen agreed late last year to redraw the list of nominees and invited various political parties to recommend candidates.
The eight nominees are media commentator Nan Fang-shuo (南方朔), former Control Yuan member Yeh Yao-peng (葉耀鵬), Ko Ming-mou (柯明謀), Lin Shu-chi (林時機), Chao Chang-ping (趙昌平), Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光), a political science professor at National Taiwan University, Ma Hsiu-ru (馬秀如), an accounting professor at National Chengchi University and former Taipei City councilor Lin Shui-chi (林水吉).
Thanks, but no
The party recommended Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), an author and professor at the University of Hong Kong, but Lung turned down the offer.
"I want to stay as an independent pen for society. It's not an easy decision, but speaking for the middle force in society is a crucial social responsibility," Lung said in a written statement.
Defending the list, KMT Acting Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) said yesterday the nominees were the best candidates available.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chin-de (
Reconsider
Chen Chin-de yesterday called a press conference urging the KMT to reconsider its candidates.
"If the KMT decided to adhere to the list, I the president should turn it down. If not, I will work with other lawmakers to vote it down in the legislature," he said.
He said that all of them, except Nan, were not qualified to be Control Yuan members.
Among the seven, Chen Chin-de said former Control Yuan member Yeh, former Taipei city councilor Lin and former provincial councilor Ker were "extremely incompetent" because of their strong partisanship.
Additional reporting by CNA
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
RSS