Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday that government officials would be limited to one bodyguard each except in extraordinary cases.
Liu made the remarks in response to a question by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) on the legislative floor.
The unnecessary allotment of police to serve as bodyguards for government officials has increased the workload for a national police force that is already short-staffed, Lee said.
Following the recent controversy over the alleged abuse of bodyguards assigned to officials, two government officials said yesterday they had given up their bodyguards.
The Government Information Office (GIO) issued a press release saying that the bodyguards of Shih Su-mei (石素梅), head of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, and Jiang Yi-hua (江宜樺), head of the Research, Development and Evaluation and Evaluation Commission, had been transferred back to the National Policy Agency.
Out of the 36 Cabinet-level agencies, 15 heads of the departments were assigned bodyguards, the GIO said.
“[The KMT government] has reduced the use of police as bodyguards. More than 40 bodyguards were assigned to officials in January when the [Democratic Progressive Party was in power.] That number has been reduced to 20 after May 20,” Liu said.
Jiang said he didn’t ask for a bodyguard but followed the practice started in 1999 as his predecessor Jay Shih (施能傑) told him that he may encounter some problems when inspecting state-owned firms.
Liu said the Cabinet would conduct a review of the matter to make sure only officials who have security concerns are assigned bodyguards.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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