The Control Yuan yesterday impeached former Transitional Justice Commission deputy chairman Chang Tien-chin (張天欽) for allegedly breaching administrative neutrality by plotting against a political opponent.
Proposed by Control Yuan members Gau Fehng-shian (高鳳仙) and Yang Mei-ling (楊美鈴), the impeachment was unanimously passed and has been forwarded to the Judicial Yuan’s Public Functional Disciplinary Sanction Commission for review, the Control Yuan said.
In interviews on Aug. 22 and 23 last year, Chang said that the commission would launch a draft bill to investigate perpetrators of crimes during the White Terror era, such as prosecutors, judges and intelligence personnel, despite knowing that the commission had no plans for such a bill, the Control Yuan said.
Photo: CNA
In a meeting with five other commission members on Aug. 24 last year, Chang also confirmed a report that he was targeting then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate for New Taipei City mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜).
A former police officer, Hou’s involvement in the death of democracy advocate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕) — who died in April 1989 when he set himself alight after being besieged by police — is the nastiest example of why transitional justice is needed, Chang said at the time.
It would be a pity if Hou’s involvement in the authoritarian regime was not used against him, Chang said, adding that the commission should act as a Dong Chang (東廠), a Ming Dynasty secret police and spy agency.
The commission should also “feed” information to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators on the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statues Committee, Chang told other commission members.
An audio recording of Chang’s statements was leaked to the media by a commission member. Hou was elected New Taipei City mayor in November last year.
Chang contravened administrative neutrality and spread misinformation, dealing a serious blow to the commission’s reputation and credibility, the Control Yuan said, adding that his actions were a serious dereliction of duty.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
New Taipei City prosecutors have indicted a cram school teacher in Sinjhuang District (新莊) for allegedly soliciting sexual acts from female students under the age of 18 three times in exchange for cash payments. The man, surnamed Su (蘇), committed two offenses in 2023 and one last year, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. The office in recent days indicted Su for contraventions of the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例), which prohibits "engaging in sexual intercourse or lewd acts with a minor over the age of 16, but under the age of 18 in exchange for
RSS