The family of the late Hsieh Tung-ming (
Instead it chose to accept help from Hsieh's former party, the KMT, in arranging the service.
"We will assist the family in handling the funeral but will not form a funeral committee," said the KMT's spokeswoman Chen Feng-hsin (
Hsieh died on Sunday in the US and on Monday both the KMT and the government offered their help in handling the funeral.
The presidential office held a meeting yesterday, hosted by advisor to the president Lee Yuan-tsu (
KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), who was invited to the meeting, refused to attend. During the meeting, Hsieh's daughter-in-law, Helen Lin (林澄枝), turned down the government's offer, saying the family wanted to keep the funeral as simple as possible.
Because Hsieh had been a vice president, President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen insisted on assigning 12 government officials to assist the family with the funeral, including Lee, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
The group concluded that a funeral committee would not be formed to hold the service, but that the government would instead later publish a commemorative anthology, to be compiled by Academia Historica President Chang Yen-hsien (
The Executive Yuan will also require government agencies to lower their national flags to half-mast on April 22, the day of the funeral.
Participants in yesterday's meeting suggested that Hsieh's family be presented with the national flag at the funeral. But Hsieh's relatives insisted that the service be kept simple and that such a presentation not be made.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
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‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)