Wang Chien-shien, the nominee for the Control Yuan presidency, said yesterday that he expected all Control Yuan members to be impartial and carry out probes without influence from family or friends.
During a presentation at the legislature, Wang called on all Control Yuan nominees to heed their responsibilities and the public’s desire for a clean government.
“Over the past years, the government had become seriously corrupt. The public is therefore eager to see clean politics and government,” he said.
“If Control Yuan members do not keep this in mind once they assume office, they will never achieve this goal,” he said.
Wang made the remarks at the legislature before the first interpellation session to review President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) nominees for the Control Yuan.
All of the 29 nominees, including Wang and Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄), nominee for vice president, are required to answer questions from legislators at three plenary sessions through tomorrow.
Legislators are scheduled to vote on the nominees on Friday.
The Control Yuan, the nation’s top supervisory branch, has been vacant since Jan. 31, 2005, as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators refused to review former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) nominees.
Citing Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption as a model worth emulating, Wang said he hoped the nation would establish a “clean politics administration” under the Control Yuan’s jurisdiction, but acknowledged that this would require amending the Constitution.
Wang was grilled by legislators across party lines yesterday about his loyalty and whether he had violated the Constitution by discussing the nomination list with the president.
Wang told Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Lin Ping-kuan (林炳坤) that although he had spent considerable time over the past years doing charity work in China, his love for Taiwan had never wavered.
Wang said he had tried to promote goodwill toward Taiwan by doing charity work in China.
The nation’s “security cannot depend solely on arms procurement from the US but must also depend on peace across the Taiwan Strait ... I came to Taiwan at the age of 10. I’m 70 now. I’ve lived in Taiwan much longer than Chen Shui-bian has,” he said.
Wang later dismissed criticism from Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), who accused him of attempting to influence Ma’s nominations for the Control Yuan.
“I care about the nomination list very much. I was only giving the president some suggestions,” he said.
In response to DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡遑瑯), who suggested Wang and Shen might seek renomination to the Control Yuan after completing their first terms, Wang said: “I would be in heaven by then.”
Meanwhile, Shen admitted that he had accepted a political donation of less than NT$1 million (US$32,900) from tycoon-turned-fugitive Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪) 14 years ago, but he said he had reported the money in accordance with the law for disclosing the annual assets of public officials.
He declined to answer KMT Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆), who asked about Wang’s support of claims by Chen Yu-hao in 2004 ahead of the presidential election that the businessman had given a donation to then-first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) a decade earlier.
DPP legislative caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) asked the nominees to serve only one term.
He told a press conference at the legislature that nominees should also cancel their party membership before assuming their posts.
He said these two requests must be met before the DPP caucus decides whether to support the nominees.
DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) said there were 15 politicians among the 29 nominees, adding that she doubted the ability of those 15 people to fulfill the duties of the job.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
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
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
‘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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with