The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday defended its decision to designate more than NT$116.2 million (US$3.86 million) of its fiscal 2018 budget as classified, saying the decision was taken to safeguard national interests in the face of diplomatic difficulties.
According to a budget proposal sent to the legislature for review, the council has classified NT$116.2 million of its budget, earmarked for schools and private business run by overseas communities.
The decision was criticized by some who accused the council of seeking to avoid legislative oversight of how the government uses taxpayers’ money.
In response, the council said in a statement yesterday that the change was proposed and approved by a bipartisan vote in the legislature earlier this year.
Although the council is not officially responsible for diplomatic work, officials said it plays an important role in promoting “public diplomacy” around the world.
As such, its funding plays an important role in safeguarding national security and interests.
Although elements of the council’s budget will not be made public, lawmakers will still be able to review its operations, it added.
According to local media reports, the council has always been reluctant to publicize its disbursement of funds to overseas communities.
Many overseas compatriot groups have repeatedly told the council not to publicize the funding they receive because working for the Taiwanese government makes them a target for Beijing.
Established in 1932, when the Republic of China government was still based in China, the council’s objective is to facilitate cultural, educational, economic and informational exchanges between Taiwan and overseas compatriot communities.
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
Taiwan plans to cull as many as 120,000 invasive green iguanas this year to curb the species’ impact on local farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture said. Chiu Kuo-hao (邱國皓), a section chief in the ministry’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, on Sunday said that green iguanas have been recorded across southern Taiwan and as far north as Taichung. Although there is no reliable data on the species’ total population in the country, it has been estimated to be about 200,000, he said. Chiu said about 70,000 iguanas were culled last year, including about 45,000 in Pingtung County, 12,000 in Tainan, 9,900 in
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
ALLEGED SABOTAGE: The damage inflicted by the vessel did not affect connection, as data were immediately rerouted to other cables, Chunghwa Telecom said Taiwan suspects that a Chinese-owned cargo vessel damaged an undersea cable near its northeastern coast on Friday, in an alleged act of sabotage that highlights the vulnerabilities of Taipei’s offshore communications infrastructure. The ship is owned by a Hong Kong-registered company whose director is Chinese, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. An unidentified Taiwanese official cited in the report described the case as sabotage. The incident followed another Chinese vessel’s suspected involvement in the breakages of data cables in the Baltic Sea in November last year. While fishing trawlers are known to sometimes damage such equipment, nation states have also
RSS