The Control Yuan yesterday voted 10-2 to impeach former minister of the Government Information Office (GIO) Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) for misappropriation of government funds.
Control Yuan members Ma Hsiu-ru (馬秀如) and Ma Yi-kung (馬以工) told a press conference that Shieh had requested a total of NT$86 million (US$2.7 million) in October 2007 and February 2008 from the Executive Yuan’s secondary reserve funds to promote the then-Democratic Progressive Party government’s campaign to apply for UN membership under the name “Taiwan.”
The Executive Yuan granted the GIO a total of NT$63 million, the Control Yuan members said.
“The reasons Shieh applied for the reserve funds did not meet any of the three circumstances set out in the Budget Act (預算法) for the fund to be used,” Ma Hsiu-ru said.
They added that the Ministry of Audit should demand that the GIO return the money, and the GIO could demand that Shieh give back the money. The Control Yuan also censured the Executive Yuan, the GIO, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, and the Sports Affairs Council in this case.
Asked for a response on the impeachment, Shieh said over the phone that he did not do anything illegal in using public funds to make the government’s policies better known by people living in Taiwan and abroad.
Shieh said he suspected there was political pressure behind the impeachment motion and panned the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government for failing to deliver on its campaign pledge to seek the country’s “return to the UN.”
The Control Yuan yesterday also censured the Executive Yuan and the Ministry of Education (MOE) for failing to formulate measures for economically disadvantaged students in line with the principles of fairness and justice.
The motion, initiated by Control Yuan members Shen Mei-chen (沈美真), Chen Jinn-lin (陳進利) and Frank Wu (吳豐山), was endorsed by the Control Yuan’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee.
Shen said they found a number of flaws in the government’s subsidy policies for students in need of financial assistance, including a government measure earmarking NT$2.9 billion to provide free lunch for schoolchildren but the program did not rule out students from well-off families.
The two government agencies were also charged with failing to expand the coverage of its student loan project to include loans for living expenses.
The committee also censured Neihu Senior High School, as well as the MOE, the Department of Health, Taipei City Government’s education and health departments and the Zhongxiao Branch of Taipei City Hospital over a controversy surrounding health checks for new students last September.
Control Yuan member Gau Fehng-shian (高鳳仙) initiated an investigation following media reports that some female students had complained about being asked to remove their underpants for a hernia examination by male doctors.
The school and the government agencies were censured for failing to follow standard procedures, including providing consent forms prior to the health examination and informing female students that the examination would require contact with their private parts, Gau 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
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
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS