Minister of Culture Hung Meng-chi (洪孟啟) yesterday tendered his resignation, despite dismissing a report alleging the ministry offered Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers special allowances in order to have its proposed budget passed without issue.
Next Magazine yesterday reported the ministry, having part of its budget frozen last year, proposed in May to apportion NT$2.5 million (US$75,465) to each KMT lawmaker to ensure the passage of the ministry’s budget this year.
The report alleged, showing what it said to be copies of ministry documents, that top ministry officials made a resolution that lawmakers could apply for the subsidy as long as they are KMT legislators, and that KMT lawmakers sitting on the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee were to be funded first.
Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times
Hung denied the allegation, saying that, while the proposal was tabled in an internal meeting, in which only he, the chief secretary and three deputy ministers were present, it was immediately rejected based on a principle of administrative neutrality.
“I am sorry for the trouble it has caused the Executive Yuan and KMT lawmakers, who have not been offered anything and have not submitted any [applications for allowances],” Hung said, adding that he has tendered his resignation to Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) as the incident has tainted the ministry’s image.
Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said Mao had called Hung to ask him to remain in his post and returned Hung’s letter of resignation before a news conference held by Hung at 3pm yesterday.
Six of the seven KMT lawmakers of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee denied that they had received any special subsidy from the ministry, with only Chiang Nai-shin (蔣乃辛) failing to respond to the magazine’s call, the report said.
Chiang said he has not heard of the proposal or seen the document.
KMT Legislator Chen Shu-hui (陳淑慧) also dismissed the allegations, denying that there is any special subsidy for the governing party’s lawmakers.
“I have called the ministry and they refuted [the accusation]. There was no meeting on it, so there was no official document [on the subsidy] either,” he said.
KMT Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉) said: “[The allegation] is ridiculous as the ministry is probably the least capable of cooperating with and [attending to lawmakers’ needs].”
Next Magazine later yesterday accused Hung of lying when he said the proposal was rejected without ever being implemented, alleging that, according to the magazine’s source, KMT lawmakers from central and southern regions of the nation have already received subsidies amounting to at least NT$1 million.
The magazine reported that the ministry’s top echelons have, on many occasions, invited related officials to discuss the allocation and follow up on the process after a resolution was made.
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
‘IRRESPONSIBLE’: Beijing’s constant disruption of the ‘status quo’ in the Taiwan Strait has damaged peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region, MOFA said The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China’s launch of another military drill around Taiwan, saying such actions are a “unilateral provocation” that destabilizes regional peace and stability. China should immediately stop the irresponsible and provocative actions, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said, after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) yesterday announced the start of a new round of joint exercises around Taiwan by the army, navy and air force, which it said were approaching “from different directions.” Code-named “Justice Mission 2025,” the exercises would be conducted in the Taiwan Strait and in areas north, southwest, southeast and east of Taiwan
RSS