A bitter row has erupted over the administrative independence of Control Yuan members after the head of the government branch reportedly told one member to tone down his act.
Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) was singled out by senior officials during a recent meeting because of his far-reaching probe into the health insurance system, the Chinese--language United Daily News reported yesterday.
Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien (王建煊) reportedly said during the meeting that members should not “tire out” government officials and that a problem can normally be identified within asking three questions.
Those remarks unleashed a storm of controversy over the role and independence of the Control Yuan, which investigates and acts on complaints issued against the government.
Huang was quoted by local media as saying that his interviews, which included 102 meetings with top health officials and transcripts from more than 3,000 doctors, were justified given the importance and severity of the investigation.
The final report included 410,000 characters, had recommendations for health officials and was lauded by the Department of Health, Huang said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday spoke out in favor of Huang’s efforts, while Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers appeared to agree with Wang’s call for moderation.
“[Wang] should not be interfering with the independence of Control Yuan members as they go about doing their legally appointed duties,” DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said.
Wang’s comments were a violation of the Constitution and posed serious challenges for the impartiality of the institution that administratively is on par with the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan, Gao said.
“If their attitude is that the members who actually do work should be [deterred], then the Control Yuan might just as well close up,” DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said.
KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) countered that Huang’s health insurance report was a special case and the number of interviews he conducted with senior government officials was “unprecedented.”
“I respect the right of Control Yuan members to do their job, but they should not be unrestricted,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to have them deploy hundreds and thousands of [hours of] human resources to do their job.”
Responding to the controversy, Control Yuan Secretary-General Chen Feng-yi (陳豐義) said that members should try and keep the “difficulties” they pose to senior government officials to a minimum.
However, he denied the Control Yuan would interfere with the impartiality of members and their investigative reports.
“The Control Yuan president supports the independence of reports 100 percent,” Chen said.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
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
RSS