Government critics yesterday assailed Premier Jiang Yi-huah’s (江宜樺) statement on Monday that the administration offered former Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) the position of chairman of a state-run enterprise “out of concern” for his family when it asked him to resign.
Jiang said that when administrative officials are suspected of illegal activities, the standard procedure would be to make adjustments to their position which, in Chang’s case, meant removing him from a decisionmaking post.
“However, bearing in mind that he still needs to feed a family, he was offered the position of chairman of a state-run company,” Jiang said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) said the government’s proposition was an “abuse of public resources” and showed that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration “has little concern for public suffering and cares only about the rich and the powerful and political machinations.”
“Chang is not the only one who has a family to feed in Taiwan. [The nation’s] economic environment is deteriorating, with unemployment and stagnant wages, but he [Chang] was nonetheless offered a tailor-made, high-ranking position,” Huang said.
Huang added that while the government arranged a position for Chang, who is suspected of leaking information to China and accused of being a spy, it did nothing of the sort for former minister of labor Pan Shih-wei (潘世偉) and former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫), who, unlike Chang, were not suspected of any criminal offense.
“So Pan and Tseng have no families to feed?” Huang asked. “This is clearly double standards and biased treatment, which shows that this administration only pays lip service to its much-touted governing in accordance with the law.”
Peter Wang (王獻極), convener of the 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign, said Jiang’s comment showed his ignorance of public misery.
Chang has at least three luxury apartments, including one in Taipei that is estimated to be worth NT$70 million (US$2.3 million), Wang said.
“With his current assets, he can provide a comfortable living to at least three generations of his family. How is he in need of a job, at the expense of public resources, to feed his family?” Wang asked.
“Many families cannot afford a box of mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival [and] countless unemployed young men have to depend on their parents. The number of homeless people is increasing and they cannot even find a job cleaning toilets to scrape by. A premier that is ignorant of people’s suffering should be kicked out of office,” Wang 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
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
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
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
RSS