Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday confirmed that he had been sounded out about heading the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) by people sent by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), but said it was “a long time ago.”
However, in March, the former legislative speaker denied that such an offer had been made and dismissed as “rumor” a report that said Tsai considered him a good candidate for the post and had offered him the job.
Asked yesterday about the possibility of him taking up the job, Wang said that he could not comment “because the president did not bring up the issue personally.”
Photo: Chiu Yen-ling, Taipei Times
Pressed on whether he had been asked by someone sent by Tsai, Wang paused before saying: “[I was asked] a long time ago. I said we would see how the cross-strait relationship goes.”
When asked how he felt now, Wang said there was no need to talk about his position, “because there have not been any formal talks over the issue.”
Asked if he would be willing to consider an offer if there were formal talks, he said: “We will see by that time.”
The KMT hinted that it might take disciplinary action against Wang if he were to join Tsai’s administration.
KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Te-fu (林德福) said Wang would have to quit as legislator-at-large if he accepted a job offer.
“It is simply not possible for an SEF chairman, who would be questioned at the legislature, to double as a legislator-at-large,” Lin said. This is “what the law and the institution stipulates.”
Asked whether Wang’s party membership rights might be suspended, Lin said the party’s regulations would be followed.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily on Monday cited an unnamed “high-ranking KMT official” as saying that if Wang became SEF chairman, he would be disciplined the same way Presidential Office Secretary-General Lin Bih-jaw (林碧炤), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維), Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) and Veterans Affairs Council Director Lee Shying-jow (李翔宙) were.
All four saw their KMT membership rights suspended after they joined the Cabinet without notifying KMT headquarters.
Asked about the KMT stance that he could not serve as SEF chairman and a KMT legislator-at-large, Wang said he was not clear about the report, but that “past examples could be looked into.”
While People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) has also been cited as a possible candidate to lead the SEF, PFP caucus convener Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said that the issue had not been discussed in the two meetings Tsai held with Soong.
The emphasis should be on the Tsai administration’s cross-strait policy, not on the foundation’s leadership, Lee said.
“If the two sides [of the Taiwan Strait] have no common ground, it makes no difference [who heads the SEF],” Lee said.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
RSS