The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday gave a demerit to Edward Chen (陳貴明), chairman of the state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電), saying he had failed to do his best to carry out the ministry’s orders.
“The ministry decided to give Chen a demerit because he failed to clear the legal issue of the appointment [of a designated vice president] prior to the board meeting, which resulted in the firm’s board of directors not having the accurate information during its discussion,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Hsieh Fa-dah (謝發達), told reporters at a briefing yesterday.
APPOINTMENT REJECTED
The ministry’s punitive action came after Taipower’s board of directors rejected the appointment of Huang Fu-yuan (黃傅源) as vice president during their board meeting on March 28, even though the personnel arrangement — subject to the Executive Yuan’s approval — had been ratified by Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) on March 21.
“Chen should not have made any judgments based on his personal impression of Huang,” Hsieh said.
Local media have speculated that Chen purposely disobeyed the ministry order because of a personal dislike of Huang. As a result, reports said, the ministry was considering removing Chen from his position if it were determined that he purposely disobeyed the order.
“In our investigation of Chen’s attitude at the firm’s board meeting [on March 28], we did not find any evidence that Chen purposely steered the meeting in a direction that the ministry did not want to see,” Hsieh said.
BRIBERY
Concerning allegations that Huang had paid a bribe to secure the position, the ministry said it had requested that the Taipei District Court investigate and would postpone the Taipower appointment until any investigation results were released.
In response to the ministry’s decision, Chen said in a written statement that “he sincerely apologized for any trouble this personnel case may have caused the minister of Economic Affairs [Steve Chen (陳瑞隆)].”
Meanwhile, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) yesterday denied that he had personally selected Huang for the Taipower position.
Chen Chin-jun made the remarks after Steve Chen told lawmakers during a question-and-answer session that the ministry had selected Huang based on Chen Chin-jun’s recommendation.
Huang allegedly paid a bribe of NT$20 million to get the promotion, a charge that he has rebutted, vowing to take legal action against his detractors.
Chen Chin-jun said in a press statement that he acted on the recommendation of others when he suggested that Steve Chen consider Huang, but he denied that he pressured the minister into endorsing Huang.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
A bipartisan group of US representatives have introduced a draft US-Taiwan Defense Innovation Partnership bill, aimed at accelerating defense technology collaboration between Taiwan and the US in response to ongoing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The bill was introduced by US representatives Zach Nunn and Jill Tokuda, with US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar and US Representative Ashley Hinson joining as original cosponsors, a news release issued by Tokuda’s office on Thursday said. The draft bill “directs the US Department of Defense to work directly with Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense through their respective
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
RSS