Environmental groups on Monday called on the Cabinet not to appoint Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Chang Tzi-chin (張子敬) as the new Minister of the Environment when the agency is upgraded to a ministry next month.
A petition calling on Chang to step down was presented at a news conference on Monday at the legislature hosted by New Power Party Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華).
More than 50 environmental organizations have signed the petition since it was launched in 2020, Changhua Environmental Protection Union president Shy Yueh-ing (施月英) said, calling him the “most disdained” EPA minister.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Shy accused Chang of only allowing members of the public to speak for three minutes at hearings and banning recordings, depriving the public of their right to participate.
The EPA has also been abusing procedure to stifle public input in environmental impact assessments, Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association chairman Chen Hsien-cheng (陳憲政) said, citing entrance restrictions and online-only hearings on a controversial fourth liquefied natural gas terminal in Keelung.
Chen Jiau-hua also raised concern that people allegedly accused of sexual harassment within the EPA might be promoted when the agency is upgraded to the Ministry of the Environment next month.
Chang said he has not yet received notice of any posting from the Executive Yuan and respects the criticism.
Regarding accusations of sexual harassment within the EPA, Chang said that administrative investigations would be launched into any rumors of misconduct, and handled according to Gender Equality Committee procedures if verified.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS