Amid media speculation that they were to be appointed vice ministers of defense, a Control Yuan member and the commander-in-chief of the air force yesterday told journalists that they had indeed been named to take the posts.
The appointments will not be officially announced until Feb 1.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Control Yuan member Kang Ning-hsiang (
The second vice minister post, which will not formally exist until March when the Defense Organization Law (
The new law separates responsibility for arms purchases from other military affairs to avoid possible abuses.
Asked by journalists whether he was to take the first of the two posts, Kang said: "The president has been generous enough to promise to allow me to finish the cases I am investigating in the Control Yuan before I take up my new job."
A number of important cases in the Control Yuan are under investigation by teams led by Kang, including the Lafayette frigate scandal.
The fact that Kang does not have a military background has prompted media speculation that his appointment heralds the ultimate realization of President Chen Shui-bian's (
It is speculated that, once Kang has completed a stint as a vice minister of defense, he will be a strong candidate for promotion as minister of defense.
Kang, who graduated from National Chung Hsing University with a bachelor's degree in public administration in 1961, is an experienced public servant.
He has been a Taipei City Council member for three years, a lawmaker for 19 years, a National Assembly member for three years and a Control Yuan member for nine years.
Kang's positions in the Legislative Yuan and Control Yuan gave him plenty of experience on military matters and brought him into close contact with military personnel.
Media speculation has suggested that he may also owe his appointment to the fact that he enjoys good relations with the US. He has made several trips to the US and developed relations with influential figures, including congressmen.
General Chen, whose term as commander-in-chief of the air force will end at the end of February, is a long-standing, experienced and highly qualified air force officer.
Chen is also widely known to have good relations with the US, a factor which some in the media have speculated made him a more likely choice for minister of defense than the eventual appointee, General Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明), because the US was thought to object to the latter's personal style and his leadership of the armed forces.
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
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
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
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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