Former Department of Health minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) went out with a bang when he revealed that the last official document he signed before stepping down on Monday last week was a lawsuit against TV pundits for allegedly spreading false comments about the A(H1N1) flu vaccine.
As the legal action was filed in the department’s name, Yaung’s move marked the first time TV pundits have been sued by a government agency. This, coupled with the online auction of Yaung’s autographed briefcase for charity — which drew a winning bid of more than NT$5 million (US$169,500) from Taiwanese tycoon Terry Gou (郭台銘) — allowed Yaung to exit in style.
President Ma Ying-jou (馬英九) has lauded Yaung, while Gou said he joined the auction to show his admiration for Yaung’s courage in defending his health policy and his love for the underprivileged. However, a closer look at Yaung’s 18-month in service leaves some wondering whether he has lived up to these comments about his strength of character — or whether it’s nothing more than political grandstanding.
Yaung has described the TV pundits’ discussions about the vaccine as sensationalism and cited them as a reason many Taiwanese are reluctant to get vaccinated. He also said the “vaccine does not differentiate between blue and green,” referring to pro-administration and opposition forces. That was a strange comment, coming from someone who rejected the invitation of those pundits, generally perceived as being pro-green, to go on their show to elaborate on the department’s vaccine policy.
Many may also recall the pledge made by Yaung when he became minister in August 2009. He said then that seeking payment from the Taipei City Government on the debt it owes to the National Health Insurance System was high on his agenda.
“The Taipei City Government must pay its debt or the National Health Insurance’s finances will collapse sooner or later,” Yaung said, adding that the city’s debt was the National Health Insurance Bureau’s biggest problem.
However, not only did Yaung shy away from going after Taipei’s debts, the department also remained silent when then-premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) waded into the controversy and said it could not seize the landholdings of local governments to pay for their insurance subsidy debts.
So much for one who prides himself on “sticking to his guns.”
Yaung has won accolades for donating the NT$5 million his briefcase drew, in addition to a personal donation of NT$500,000, to a special account set up by the Bureau of National Health Insurance to help those who cannot afford to pay their insurance premiums.
While the gesture is commendable, hasn’t Yaung thought of how much more he could have done if he had come up with more concrete and timely measures when he was in office to help those in need — some of whom lost their lives because they couldn’t afford to pay their health premiums and seek medical assistance?
On Tuesday, the Control Yuan censured the department for downplaying a probable case of death from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease last year. Asked for comment, Yaung said: “I can’t be bothered [by the Control Yuan’s report].”
This coming from someone praised by Gou as a public servant who is full of “courage and love.”
Indeed, Yaung has left his public service career with a bang, but it was a hollow bang that continues to be the subject of heated debate.
The US Senate’s passage of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which urges Taiwan’s inclusion in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise and allocates US$1 billion in military aid, marks yet another milestone in Washington’s growing support for Taipei. On paper, it reflects the steadiness of US commitment, but beneath this show of solidarity lies contradiction. While the US Congress builds a stable, bipartisan architecture of deterrence, US President Donald Trump repeatedly undercuts it through erratic decisions and transactional diplomacy. This dissonance not only weakens the US’ credibility abroad — it also fractures public trust within Taiwan. For decades,
In 1976, the Gang of Four was ousted. The Gang of Four was a leftist political group comprising Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members: Jiang Qing (江青), its leading figure and Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) last wife; Zhang Chunqiao (張春橋); Yao Wenyuan (姚文元); and Wang Hongwen (王洪文). The four wielded supreme power during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but when Mao died, they were overthrown and charged with crimes against China in what was in essence a political coup of the right against the left. The same type of thing might be happening again as the CCP has expelled nine top generals. Rather than a
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) on Saturday won the party’s chairperson election with 65,122 votes, or 50.15 percent of the votes, becoming the second woman in the seat and the first to have switched allegiance from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to the KMT. Cheng, running for the top KMT position for the first time, had been termed a “dark horse,” while the biggest contender was former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), considered by many to represent the party’s establishment elite. Hau also has substantial experience in government and in the KMT. Cheng joined the Wild Lily Student
Taipei stands as one of the safest capital cities the world. Taiwan has exceptionally low crime rates — lower than many European nations — and is one of Asia’s leading democracies, respected for its rule of law and commitment to human rights. It is among the few Asian countries to have given legal effect to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant of Social Economic and Cultural Rights. Yet Taiwan continues to uphold the death penalty. This year, the government has taken a number of regressive steps: Executions have resumed, proposals for harsher prison sentences
RSS