Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
He estimated that the money wasted through corruption every year makes up about 30 percent of the government's annual total expenditure, or about NT$510 billion.
Yesterday was the first time Chen went to the legislature to face interpellation by lawmakers since he assumed the justice minister's portfolio. Unlike some of the new Cabinet's scholars-turned-ministers, the former four-term legislator was not given much of a hard time by his former colleagues.
However, the reputed disharmony between Chen and the director of the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau, Wang Kuang-ru (
In his policy report yesterday, Chen also stressed that his plan to create a nationwide record of every citizen's bank accounts and other assets would not inconvenience people, nor would it violate citizens' privacy -- as some have charged.
"The passage of the telecommunication monitoring law has shown that for the purpose of cracking down on crime, the public can accept a monitoring system," Chen said. "Just like telecommunication monitoring, a bank account record could only be checked with a warrant."
The ties between the ministry and its Investigation Bureau was another focus of questions from lawmakers. KMT legislator Lin Hong-tsung (
Chen clearly disagreed, but Wang, after some hesitation, said he would be glad to see it happen.
Lin asked some 20 bureau staffers who were at the session to vote "if you agree with your director." Almost all raised their hands, leaving Chen speechless.
DPP legislator Perng Shaw-jiin (彭紹瑾) asked if the alteration of the plan for a new anti-corruption administration was due to the Investigation Bureau's reluctance to have some of its departments merged into the new institution.
Chen denied the resistance had affected the plan.
"The final agreement that the bureau's anti-corruption department would not be merged into the new administration was not due to such resistance. Instead, the overriding concern was what would be the best for the anti-corruption effort." Chen 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
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
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