More than 80 percent of respondents to an online CNN poll said that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should resign over the administration’s delays in assisting victims of Typhoon Morakot.
Ma, who ruled out resignation during an interview with CNN on Sunday, said that his government did its best to deal with the aftermath of Morakot. Although he said during the interview that he would take full responsibility for the blunders and mistakes made during rescue efforts, he defined “taking all responsibility” as finding out what was wrong with the rescue system, correcting the problems and disciplining officials in charge.
In CNN’s Quickvote yesterday, 82 percent of voters said yes to the question: “Should Taiwan’s leader stand down over delays in aiding typhoon victims?”
Only 18 percent voted no.
Desperate for damage control after extensive media coverage of his administration’s alleged poor performance, Ma will hold two press conferences today with the local press corps and foreign correspondents.
His administration has come under fire since the typhoon began lashing Taiwan on Aug. 7, dropping more than a year’s rainfall in three days and triggering the most serious flooding and mudslides the nation has seen in 50 years.
Ma called a national security meeting on Friday and activated the national security mechanism, but declined to take charge of the rescue operation, saying the onus lay with the executive branch.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said yesterday that Ma would speak briefly on the government’s relief efforts before opening the floor to questions at today’s press conferences.
When asked whether Ma would apologize again today, Wang said it was possible.
Bowing to public anger, Ma apologized on Saturday for the slow pace of rescue efforts, but he blamed the weather and road conditions for hampering rescue efforts. He also said on Sunday that he would shoulder all responsibility for the shortcomings in his government’s response to the disaster, but pledged to punish officials responsible.
Amid calls for a Cabinet reshuffle, Wang yesterday said that “somebody will be held responsible,” but it would have to wait until the investigation concludes.
Wang said because the government’s first priority was disaster relief, there was no timetable for the investigation and disciplinary measures.
Regarding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ rejection of foreign aid, Wang said the Presidential Office, National Security Council and Executive Yuan did not know about the ministry’s memo before it was sent out to embassies and representative offices as a “routine affair.”
“It is a question of judgment,” Wang said.
Wang also said on Saturday that the nation would not file a request to join the UN this year as the deadline for filing such a request was Aug. 15. Wang, however, said that the administration’s determination to “return” to the UN remained unchanged, but that it would adopt a more “flexible” approach.
“The Republic of China is an independent sovereignty. We are a peace-loving nation and a founding member of the UN,” he said. “We lost the UN seat in 1971, but we have been making efforts to return to the body and that resolve has never changed.”
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying