Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) yesterday said that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would head a preparatory committee for national affairs conferences on judicial reform to be set up by the office, in an effort to prevent the pending nominations of the Judicial Yuan president and vice president from impeding long-awaited progress toward judicial reform.
“Actually, in addition to serving as convener, [Tsai] will also designate a civil opinion leader to be the deputy convener of the committee, which will consist of legal and non-legal professionals,” Huang said.
Huang said the committee is set to begin soliciting issues regarding judicial reform, including ones gathered by civil judicial reform groups.
The beginning of these efforts is meant to prevent any delay in the nomination of Judicial Yuan president and vice president from hindering judicial reforms, Huang said.
Huang made the remarks when asked to confirm media reports published yesterday that quoted an unnamed “high-level official at the Presidential Office” as saying that Tsai is to take the role of convener of the committee to ensure smooth communication between the Presidential Office-affiliated body and various sectors of society.
“While there have been concerns that a politician’s ties with the judicial system could lead to their interference in individual court cases, Tsai is confident that she would not do so and that her goal is simply to assist with reform efforts,” the official was quoted as saying.
According to the guidelines for establishment of the committee rolled out by the office on July 11, Tsai is responsible for appointing the convener and deputy convener of the committee, one of whose stated missions is to give counsel to the president on matters concerning judicial reform.
It was reported that initially, the convener seat was to be occupied by Presidential Office Secretary-General Lin Bih-jaw (林碧炤).
Tsai’s decision to take the role came one day after she signed off on Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission Chief Commissioner Hsieh Wen-ting’s (謝文定) and Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Lin Chin-fang’s (林錦芳) withdrawals of their nominations as Judicial Yuan president and vice president respectively.
Their nominations met with harsh criticism, as Hsieh was purported to be a party to human rights violations during the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) authoritarian era, while Lin allegedly has a history of intervening in the judicial process.
Regarding to Hsieh and Lin Chin-fang’s replacements, Huang yesterday said that Tsai would nominate new candidates in accordance with the Constitution and would extensively solicit opinions from society.
“Since the incumbent Judicial Yuan president and vice president had already resigned early last month, the new candidates will be nominated as soon as possible,” Huang said.
Huang added that since their nominations still require approval from the Legislative Yuan, the posts might not be filled until November.
‘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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS