Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥), who was sworn into office yesterday, refused to give definitive comments about whether the ministry would lift an unofficial suspension on carrying out death sentences.
Tsai said he has been in office for less than a day and needs to thoroughly consider the facts and weigh public opinion carefully before making a decision.
Tsai said his experience as Investigation Bureau director-general gives him a greater understanding of the proper integration of criminal investigation and prosecution.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
He is the first person to move from the bureau position to minister of justice.
At his swearing-in ceremony, Tsai said he hopes members of the ministry will be motivated in their work by idealism, a sense of mission and passion.
The five subordinate services of prosecutors, investigators, anti-corruption officers, administrative enforcement agents and corrections officers must coordinate their actions and resources in the war on crime, drugs, telecom fraud and electoral fraud, he said.
Separately yesterday, Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said his appointment to the post is not related to the nine-in-one elections in November.
The Ministry of the Interior is to focus on the tasks of urban renewal and social housing, as well as narcotics enforcement and public safety, to ensure an orderly and safe society, Hsu said.
“I come to the ministry on my own because I feel total confidence in the people of this ministry and have no need to bring staff,” he said.
Elsewhere, Agriculture and Food Agency Director-General Hu Zhong-yi (胡忠一) vowed to balance the production and sale of domestic crops and increase collaboration with farmers’ groups.
As the agency has been plagued by plunging prices due to oversupply, balancing crop production and supply is expected to be a challenge.
At the handover ceremony at the agency’s main office in Nantou County’s Jhongsing New Village (中興新村), Hu said he would promote new agriculture models and turn domestic agriculture into “a technological, secure, profitable and sustainable industry.”
Hu presented eight plans to boost the competitiveness of domestic agriculture, including improving information systems for crop supply and demand; reviewing the nation’s tariff quotas for crops; seeking diverse ways to process crops; and setting up more cooling and logistics systems to reduce the loss of crops during delivery.
Also, he plans to help farmers replace less competitive crops or ones in oversupply with others; encourage more farmers to adopt organic and eco-friendly farming and join the council’s traceability agricultural product system; establish a strategic alliance among the agency, local farmers’ groups and other marketing channels; and adjust the market structure of agricultural products.
Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom. Recounting their ordeal, one victim on Monday said she was asked by a friend to visit Thailand and help set up a bank account there, for which they would be paid NT$70,000 to NT$100,000 (US$2,136 to US$3,051). The victim said she had not found it strange that her friend was not coming along on the trip, adding that when she
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
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