Premier-designate Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said on Sunday that he will evaluate the feasibility of raising the salaries of government employees, military personnel and public school teachers after he assumes office on May 20.
“However, no timetable is available at the moment for taking such an initiative,” Liu said in an interview with a cable television station that aired on Sunday night, adding that an overall review is needed before a decision can be reached on the much-anticipated raise.
On president-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) recent remarks that he hopes the incoming Cabinet will conduct grassroots and community outreach programs to better understand popular views on matters of public concern, Liu said he would not force Cabinet members to engage in “long-stay” programs as a way to get close to the public.
In the run-up to the March 22 presidential election, Ma launched a “long-stay” program during which he stayed one or two nights at the homes of selected people in central and southern townships as part of his get-out-the-vote campaign, which allowed him to build a good rapport with many townsfolk in his rival’s traditional vote banks.
“I don’t think that Ma really wants his Cabinet ministers to emulate him and stay overnight at peoples’ homes. I think he just wants to encourage Cabinet members not to stay in air-conditioned rooms all the time and to try hard to tune in to popular demands and mainstream opinions,” Liu said.
Liu further said he expects incoming Cabinet members to not spend excessive amounts of time in social engagement and instead devote more energy to policy planning and administrative innovation.
“I believe that low levels of social engagement will limit unnecessary trouble, inspire the public to lead a simple, frugal lifestyle and contribute to the establishment of clean politics,” Liu said.
Reaffirming his respect for the country’s civil service system, Liu said Democratic Progressive Party members in the civil service need not worry about possible victimization by the incoming government.
“What concerns me most is the recruitment and promotion of outstanding civil servants to suitable posts to achieve our goal of good governance,” he said.
Asked about his views on the Papua New Guinea diplomatic scandal in which approximately US$30 million in diplomatic funds vanished into private hands, Liu said diplomatic work should be carried out with prudence and according to the law to avoid unnecessary financial losses and damage to the country’s international image.
Liu said the unfortunate event could have been avoided if the government had followed existing administrative regulations.
“Given Taiwan’s diplomatic plight, checkbook diplomacy cannot be totally abandoned. But the government should pay special heed to the legality of the methods adopted in relevant operations,” Lu said, adding that the country should also refrain from paying unreasonably high sums to forge formal ties with a single ally.
“We need to weigh all the pros and cons and all possible advantages and disadvantages before paying any bills in order to avoid wasting national resources and to avoid a recurrence of similar scandals in the future,” Liu said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
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