A war of words was sparked over potential political motivations after state-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) on Sunday announced it would keep prices for its gasoline and diesel products unchanged for the next three weeks.
Amid mounting concerns that tensions between Iran and the US could disrupt Middle East crude exports and force up oil prices on the international market, CPC said it would not alter its prices before Jan. 29.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) told a press conference that the decision was made in a bid to increase support for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is seeking re-election in Saturday’s poll.
Tsai said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was using the domestic oil price as a tool to manipulate voters.
KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) defended the policy, saying the decision was made out of concern for people’s expenditures and that the DPP was guilty of having double standards.
“When they [the previous DPP administration] froze local oil prices, they said it was out of consideration for the public. Now when we [the KMT government] do the same thing, they say it was because of electoral concerns. Isn’t that a double standard?” she asked.
CPC said the policy to freeze oil prices was part of the government’s effort to keep consumer prices steady during the Lunar New Year holiday and that the freeze was in accordance with past practice.
However, critics pointed out that in the past, the measure was put in place just before the holiday period. For example, last year CPC imposed a price freeze on Jan. 31, two days before the six-day Lunar New Year holiday, with the freeze lasting for two weeks.
This year, CPC put the freeze in place two weeks ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Jan. 23.
With the freeze enacted, CPC’s wholesale price of 92-octane unleaded gasoline would remain at NT$30.6 a liter, 95-octane unleaded gasoline at NT$31.3 a liter, 98-octane unleaded at NT$32.8 a liter and diesel at NT$29.8 a liter.
The decision not to raise prices also came on the back of a 3.46 percent spike in global crude oil prices last week to US$109.85 a barrel, up from US$106.18 the previous week, which should have prompted a price increase of NT$0.7 a liter for CPC’s gasoline and diesel products based on the CPC’s pricing mechanism, the company said.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), the nation’s only privately run oil refiner, announced later on Sunday that it would follow suit with CPC’s decision.
Approached by reporters for comment, Acting Premier Sean Chen denied that CPC’s decision was related to the presidential and legislative elections.
“The decision was made by CPC in consultation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs. They did not send the proposal to the Executive Yuan for approval,” Chen said.
Every government agency had been told a month ago to keep commodity prices stable in the run up to the Lunar New Year, Chen said.
“The decision was unrelated to the election. It was just the election happened to be held near the holiday,” he said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique