The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucus yesterday urged the Control Yuan to investigate whether the Executive Yuan breached administrative neutrality by launching smear campaigns against opposition parties.
The TPP made the appeal after staff members at the office of the Executive Yuan spokesperson were reportedly seen by members of the media creating memes casting aspersions on some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers.
Article 9 of the Public Servant Administrative Neutrality Act (公務人員行政中立法) prohibits public servants from using executive resources to create items for the purpose of supporting or opposing any political party, group or candidate, TPP deputy caucus whip Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) said, adding that former Executive Yuan spokesman Ting Yi-ming (丁怡銘) might also have contravened the law.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
Ting in his capacity as Executive Yuan spokesman on Thursday last week held up placards that featured memes claiming that the winner of this year’s Taipei International Beef Noodle Festival used beef containing the leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine.
The restaurant later in the day denied the allegation and produced a copy of its SGS certification showing that no ractopamine residue was found in its beef.
Ting resigned from his post on Sunday.
Article 14 of the act states that supervisors cannot instruct public servants to do anything prohibited by the act, so whether Ting knew about the staff creating memes should be clarified, Jang said.
TPP caucus whip Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) urged the Control Yuan to probe whether the Executive Yuan hired staff to create placards or memes in a bid to spread false information, and whether the office of the Executive Yuan spokesman has been downgraded to a mouthpiece of the government.
While some have praised the placards and memes for their efficiency in conveying information, they have also led to the circulation of misleading or fake news, Lai said, adding that a victim’s reputation cannot be easily restored once tainted.
In response, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Li Meng-yen (李孟諺), who is filling the post vacated by Ting, said that the Executive Yuan has always seen clarifying untrue or misleading information as one of its main responsibilities.
In any cases of careless or misleading information, the Executive Yuan would promptly issue corrections and not shy away from apologizing, Li added.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
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
RSS