President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) nomination of Control Yuan members on Thursday drew more negative reaction from the opposition and other critics yesterday, with one pundit saying that Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) had been involved in the “politically motivated” nomination process.
Wang Mei-yu (王美玉), former president of the Chinese-language China Times, made the list of 29 nominees because of Wu, who could have a personal reason for his endorsement, radio host Clara Chou (周玉蔻) wrote in her column published yesterday on my-formosa.com, an online news Web site.
Wu, a reporter at the China Times before entering politics, was a close friend of Want Want China Times Groups chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), who owns several media outlets, including the China Time, magazines, television companies and online news Web sites, Chou said.
Recommending Wang, who is Tsai’s right-hand man, could benefit Wu media-wise and give him a boost in his competition with other potential 2016 presidential aspirants, including New Taipei Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential primary next year, Chou said.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said the Control Yuan nominations were “horrible” and appeared to be Ma’s way of rewarding his confidants — given that most of the nominees are controversial figures or former government officials with bad reputations.
“It seemed to us that Ma could care less about what other people think, because his term will be up in two years,” DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) told a press conference in Taipei.
As an example of a problematic nominee, Lin cited former Food and Drug Administration director-general Kang Jaw-jou (康照洲), who was accused of covering up cases of starch products contaminated with maleic acid during a nationwide scandal in May last year.
Former Council of Indigenous Peoples minister Chang Jen-hsiang (章仁香), former KMT lawmaker Chiang Yi-wen (江綺雯), former Public Construction Commission minister Fan Liang-shiow (范良銹) and former Council for Economic Planning and Development deputy minister Nancy Chen (陳小紅) were all Ma’s subordinates, Lin said.
Chang’s performance at the Council of Indigenous Peoples had been criticized by other KMT lawmakers, while Fan was also accused of malfeasance when he served as director of the Central Emergency Operation Center during Typhoon Morakot, which left 677 dead, 22 missing and caused more than NT$100 billion (US$3.3 billion at current exchange rates) in damages in August 2009.
‘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 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
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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
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