The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday slammed the government's decision to reinstate Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Hou Ho-shong (侯和雄), who was indicted on corruption charges last year.
KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (
Nantou prosecutors indicted Hou on Nov. 29 and sought a 20-year sentence and NT$5 million (US$156,250) fine.
Hou is considered to be a close associate of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
Prosecutors said at the time that they believed Hou had pocketed at least NT$350,000 from the state coffers. The court has not yet ruled on Hou's case.
Hou's position as vice minister of economic affairs had been suspended since his indictment, but the ministry on Tuesday night approved Hou's application for reinstatement.
The ministry transferred him to the position of counselor while allowing him to double up as director of the ministry's central region office in Nantou.
"The DPP considered its performance in the [Jan. 12] legislative election a crushing defeat. Why has it failed then to understand the public's renouncement of corruption and reinstated a corrupt official?" Kuo told a press conference.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (
Wu said Chen had violated the law as he had failed to refer Hou to the Control Yuan for disciplinary measures as stipulated in the Law on Discipline of Civil Servants (
Wu said Chen had also neglected his duties by failing to extend the suspension of Hou's post as Article Four of the Law on Discipline of Civil Servants empowers him to.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS