Cabinet Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) yesterday confirmed that Minister of Cultural Affairs Huang Pi-twan (黃碧端) had tendered her resignation.
Su told reporters that Huang had tendered her resignation several times, but Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) had yet to approve it.
“The premier said Minister Huang had performed very well and had been very competent in terms of protecting cultural assets, promoting of the arts and planning cultural events and major cultural venues,” Su said.
Huang sent a letter to members of the council saying she had decided not to stay after former premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) led members of his Cabinet in resigning en masse on Sept 7.
Huang became minister on May 20 last year and remained after the Cabinet reshuffle, but said she only promised to stay on temporarily so that the premier would have time to find a successor.
Huang said she had handed her resignation to the premier on a number of occasions over the past month because she believed she had completed her mission for the time being and that she wanted the council to be led by a younger and more energetic minister.
Vice Minister of Cultural Affairs Chang Yui-tan (張譽騰) told reporters the minister had been very concerned about the review by legislators and the media, adding that legislators’ criticism on Monday might have renewed her determination to quit.
During a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee on Monday, legislators criticized Huang for sending two text messages to her friends complaining about being unable to win support from legislators.
Huang was scheduled to attend the committee’s meeting yesterday, but requested a leave of absence.
Huang’s absence prompted Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators to threaten to boycott the council’s budget request for next year.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), a member of the committee, said Huang shouldn’t tender her resignation until the committee completes the budget review.
Meanwhile, Su dismissed media speculation that Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) also tendered his resignation over the US beef import controversy. Su said the premier and the president both gave credits to Yaung for his performance.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would