The Appendectomy Project yesterday accused the government of excluding civic groups from participating in the reform of the Civil Servant Elections and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法).
The Ministry of the Interior failed to invite several activist groups to speak at a public hearing scheduled for today, including groups that played a central role in past campaigns to recall legislators, a group spokesman said.
Today’s hearing is scheduled to discuss proposals, such as lowering the voter turnout threshold for recall referendums and lifting a ban on campaigning during recalls.
After receiving complaints last week, the ministry said that group members are welcome to attend the public hearing, provided that they speak only after the other participants finish.
Following a failed campaign to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) that ended in February, the Appendectomy Project has made the reform of recall legislation its priority.
Appendectomy Project spokesman Lin Zu-yi (林祖儀), also known as “Mr Lin from Taipei (台北林先生),” questioned the attendance of representatives from the major political parties, as recall reform presents a conflict of interest for sitting legislators.
The Constitution 133 Alliance, which spearheaded a failed campaign to recall KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) in 2013, agreed.
Alliance founder Neil Peng (馮光遠), who is running for legislator on the New Power Party ticket, said it was “unimaginable” that the main organizers of two high-profile campaigns were not invited to the public hearing.
Last week, the ministry said it intended to invite four civic groups to the hearing: Taiwan March, People Rule Foundation, the Appendectomy Project and the Constitution 133 Alliance.
The ministry said that the latter two groups had been omitted because they were not officially registered, adding that the government was unable to find contact information for unregistered groups.
Peng accused the ministry of neglecting its duties, saying that failure to find contact information is unacceptable.
“Situations like this lead us to question how much our public sector is slacking off. In light of the recent debacle concerned with military discipline, I must give Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) a demerit,” Peng said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
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
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
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
RSS