Outgoing Control Yuan member Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) visited former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), prompting speculation about their plans and coinciding with the release yesterday of an online poll showing support for investigating misconduct and abuse of power in the justice system.
The former president yesterday posted a photograph on Facebook showing him and Chen Shih-meng sitting and smiling while holding Chen Shui-bian’s book published in May last year, with the message: “Pushing to uphold judicial reform, but the wings were clipped before taking flight.”
The post was believed to be a reference to Chen Shih-meng’s resignation last week from the Control Yuan after encountering opposition for attempting to investigate “dinosaur judges” for allegedly issuing politically biased rulings.
Chen Shih-meng, who also spoke out about political figures obstructing judicial reform and protecting judges from scrutiny, is to leave office at the end of the month.
The meeting led to speculation that Chen Shih-meng was working to consolidate “deep green” groups and supporters of the former president after the Taiwan Action Party Alliance was disbanded when it received only 1.02 percent of party votes in the Jan. 11 legislative elections.
Others have said that Chen Shih-meng might attempt to restart the civic group Friends of Beanstalk Association, which he cofounded in 2009, when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) controlled the central government.
A poll conducted by local online media outlet ETToday found that 46.7 percent of respondents agree that the Control Yuan should have the power for checks and balances against the judiciary to prevent the justice system from becoming dictatorial.
The poll also found that 67.5 percent of respondents believed that Taiwan’s justice system does not have judicial independence.
A total of 67.2 percent of respondents said they believe that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) efforts toward judicial reform have made no progress, while about 20 percent said that they believe her efforts have made progress.
The poll, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, collected 1,492 valid samples through mobile phone text messages, ETToday said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RSS