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.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,
RSS