The Control Yuan voted yesterday to impeach former vice minister of economic affairs (MOEA) Hou Ho-hsiung (侯和雄) for influence peddling, leaking business intelligence and lining the pockets of businessmen during his term in office.
The watchdog body, which is responsible for investigating corruption in government, voted 10-2 to impeach Hou.
In the same case, the Control Yuan voted 7-5 to impeach Chang Yi-min (張義敏), a bureau chief with the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Water Resources Agency, and Yang Shui-yuan (楊水源), a consultant with Taiwan Water Corp.
Hou, Chang and Yang allegedly collaborated to help businessmen win open bids for several infrastructure construction projects so that they could gain illegal profits, said the impeachment motion, which was proposed by Control Yuan members Yu Teng-fang (余騰芳) and Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光).
Because Hou retired last month, the impeachment decision will not have any direct consequences for him, but it can serve as a warning to incumbent officials dealing with water conservation and related projects, the Control Yuan said.
The impeachment decisions will be referred to the Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Public Functionaries for further investigation because Chang and Yang are still working at their posts, the Control Yuan said.
Meanwhile, the Control Yuan members expressed the hope that the Law on Discipline of Public Functionaries would be amended to allow for fines to be imposed on civil servants after retirement once they are found to have been involved in corruption.
Noting that Hou had already retired on June 22 this year, Yu and Ker said it was unfair that civil servants could go into retirement as a way to escape impeachment for breaking the law.
The practice has led to a high level of consensus among Control Yuan members that the Act on Discipline of Civil Servants (公務員懲戒法) should be amended and a “penalty clause” added so that civil servants will not be able to escape responsibility.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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