Independent legislator Tsai Hao (
Tsai said at a news conference that the law dictates that any handling of financial property at a farmers' association must first receive the approval of an assembly of that association's delegates.
However, taking the case of a farmers' association in his constituency as an example, Tsai said that the delegates of that association did not vote to consent to allow the government to take over the management of its credit department, yet the Ministry of Finance stepped in, using Article 13 of the Financial Merger Law to relieve the association's various boards and officers of their duties and powers over the credit department.
According to Article 13, if the financial situation of the credit department of a farmers' association or a fishermen's association deteriorates, making it unable to pay off its debts or leaving it with negative net assets, then the Council of Agriculture is empowered to relieve the association's boards and officers of their duties and powers over the credit cooperative, and the Ministry of Finance can appoint a bank to take over.
Tsai said that he will raise the issue at the new legislative session slated to open today.
The credit departments of 12 farmers' associations and one fishermen's association in Pingtung County were taken over by government-appointed banks last week after evaluations confirmed that their net assets were negative.
A total of 36 such credit departments islandwide were taken over by 10 domestic commercial banks to much resistance from farmers and the poorly performing financial institutions.
The Legislative Yuan ratified a statute at an extraordinary session on June 27 for the establishment and management of a NT$140 billion (US$4 billion) Financial Reconstruction Fund, giving the government legal funding to tackle existing problems and clean up bad loans at the institutions, which are mostly located in rural or coastal areas of central and southern Taiwan.
The takeover work is the first step taken by the Financial Reconstruction Fund under the Executive Yuan to help consolidate the operations of local banks, credit departments run by farmers' associations, and fishermen's credit cooperatives.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last