GOVERNMENT
NSB general impeached
All 13 Control Yuan members voted to impeach National Security Bureau (NSB) Major General Hsieh Ching-hua (謝靜華) for allegedly assaulting a woman in February. The case is to be handed to the Disciplinary Court for trial, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Hsieh was found to have forcibly kissed a woman on a sidewalk, it said. The scene was caught on camera and revealed by the press. The watchdog said that Hsieh had consumed alcohol before the incident, adding that he had lied during the NSB investigation, which led to the agency providing false information to the public. Hsieh had violated the victim and damaged the reputation of NSB special agents, the Control Yuan said. NSB personnel faced higher scrutiny and are held to higher standards than other public servants due to the nature of the agency’s national intelligence work, it added. The NSB in a statement said that it respects the conclusions reached by the Control Yuan and would cooperate with the Disciplinary Court trial. The bureau also pledged to boost the training of its personnel and said that any misconduct would be handled appropriately.
LEGISLATIVE YUAN
Session extended to Jan. 21
The legislative session would be extended to Jan. 21 to allow for the passing of the delayed budget bill and other contested legislation, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) said on Wednesday. The Legislative Yuan meets twice a year, from February to May and from September to December, with the option to extend sessions if necessary. Since the second session started on Sept. 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party lawmakers, who together hold a majority of seats, have repeatedly blocked the Cabinet’s NT$3.33 trillion (US$102.32 billion) budget proposal. They say that the budget failed to include funding for changes made by the legislature earlier this year, and demanded that the Cabinet revise and resubmit the plan. The Democratic Progressive Party on Nov. 7 ceded to their demands following a meeting between Cabinet officials and legislative leaders.
CRIME
Case judgement sought
Prosecutors have requested a summary judgement against a Kaohsiung woman who earlier this year allegedly called the 110 emergency number multiple times in the middle of the night to insult police officers. A court filing by the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said that the 57-year-old woman, surnamed Lin (林), made nine calls to police using the 110 emergency hotline between 2am and 4am on Aug. 6. In her first call, Lin said she wanted to file a police report. When the officer on duty inquired about details, she asked him if he had “forgotten to bring his brain to work,” the filing said. The officer then played Lin a recording informing her that calling 110 without justification and ignoring subsequent warnings could be punishable as a crime against public order, at which point she hung up, the filing said. Soon after, Lin called the hotline again, swearing at the officers on duty and referring to them as “animals” and “garbage,” it said. Officers from the Kaohsiung Police Department’s Sinsing Precinct arrested her on suspicion of obstructing an officer. Prosecutors said Lin’s actions had contravened Article 140 of the Criminal Code and requested that the Kaohsiung District Court issue a summary judgement against her, as the facts of the case were not in dispute. Obstructing a public official is punishable by a prison sentence of up to one year or a maximum fine of NT$100,000.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
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
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
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
RSS