Saying that Control Yuan member positions should not be allotted solely on the basis of party affiliation, incoming Control Yuan president Wang Chien-shien yesterday called on all political party heavyweights to keep their hands off President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) nominations for Control Yuan members.
After the legislature voted down Ma’s nominee for deputy head of the Control Yuan Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) and Control Yuan member nominees Chen Yao-chang (陳耀昌), Hsu Ping-chin (許炳進) and Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), the Presidential Office had said Ma would name four new nominees in September.
Wang made the remarks in response to allegations that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which together with the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union holds a three-quarter majority in the legislature, voted down the four because they were unhappy that some pan-blue politicians had not been included in Ma’s nomination list.
Wang expressed his regret at the rejections, saying that both the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had voted for the nominees in the spirit of bipartisanship.
A founder of the pro-unification New Party, Wang said: “Was I so bad that I would not receive a single vote from the DPP?”
Wang said he was surprised that Yu, a human rights lawyer who specializes on women’s rights, was not supported by the KMT lawmakers, saying that: “Color [whether the nominee is pan-green or pan-blue] was the only concern of lawmakers.”
Chen, who expressed his support for DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), was also considered a pan-green nominee, as he was a DPP member.
Chen left the DPP in 2006 over a series of alleged corruption scandals involving former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) family and inner circle.
Rumors have circulated that the rejection of the four was because KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) was unhappy with Ma, who did not nominate the three People First Party (PFP) members PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) wished to see on the list.
The three members were former PFP lawmakers Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) and Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國) — who both yielded their candidacies to their KMT counterparts after the two parties negotiated joint candidates for the January legislative elections — and Soong’s long-term aide and party secretary-general, Ma Chieh-ming (馬傑明).
Dismissing the allegations, KMT legislative caucus whip Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said that Hsu was rejected because he had concealed his tax evasion record in a caucus questionnaire, while Chen was turned down because of his lack of understanding of the Control Yuan’s authority.
Wu said Shen’s failure was partly attributed to some negative votes from the DPP, of which Shen was formerly a member. The KMT disqualified Yu as a Control Yuan member because of complaints received by the KMT caucus received concerning her integrity, Wu said.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
Taiwan and the US have begun trade negotiations over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump earlier this month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in an interview this morning before reporting to the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the US, has already established communication channels with the US Department of State and the US Trade Representative (USTR), and is engaging in intensive consultations, he said. Points of negotiation include tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers and issues related to investment, procurement and export controls, he
RSS