Although the "greening" of two state-run enterprises has upset opposition parties and company management, political observers and lawmakers justified the move as "natural."
Defenders of the appointments say the DPP is just doing what the KMT did when it was in power.
"There's nothing wrong with appointing your own men in state-run enterprises when you come to power," said Lee Kuo-hsiung (
Much of the furor over the matter stems from the fact that the DPP used to criticize the KMT for engaging in such practices when it was in power.
"When the DPP was in opposition, it castigated the KMT for deploying unprofessional personnel in state-run businesses and criticized the appointments as political patronage," Lee said.
"But when it comes to power, the DPP is repeating what the KMT used to do," he said.
Facing opposition criticism, DPP lawmaker Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) admitted that the appointments are part of the DPP's plan to pave the way for victory in the year-end mayoral elections, as well as in the 2004 presidential election.
"It is, after all, hard to ignore the resources of state-run companies because they can be used to aid the party's political agendas," he said.
"If they [the appointees] do a good job in their new positions, voters will use their ballots to show their support for us. And if they don't, they'll also let us know."
Since the DPP came to power in May 2000, it has replaced at least four high-ranking officials in state-run corporations.
In May last year, the KMT's Wang Chung-yu (
Both Wang and Kuo have more than 20 years experience in the steel industry.
Last month, the former vice chairman of the Commission of National Corporations (
DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) is also scheduled to be sworn in as the chairman of Taiwan Sugar Corp (台糖) on Monday.
Wu, who holds an economics degree, is to replace the KMT's Chien Ping-tsai (
Also last month, former DPP lawmaker Cheng Pao-ching (
Yu's 12-year record of success at Taiwan Salt also earned him the chairman's position at another money-making privatized state-run company, Taiwan Fertilizer Company (
Former DPP lawmaker Tseng Chen-nung (曾振農) may also take up the position of chairman at Lucent Technologies Taiwan Telecommunications (美台電訊), a transfer-investment company of the Chunghwa Telecom.
The former chairman of the company, Susan Su (
Lee said that the DPP has legitimate reasons for putting its own people in top spots at state-run businesses.
"When the DPP was in opposition, it didn't have many members from the industrial and business sectors because they [individuals in the private-sector] didn't dare to have any connections with the party," Lee said.
So when it comes to power, the party can only appoint its allies, regardless of their professional abilities, he said.
"Former minister of economic affairs Christine Tsung (
However the situation will improve as the party develops its pool of talent, according to Lee.
Tsai agreed with Lee's sentiment and called on the KMT to reflect on its record before criticizing the ruling party.
"When the KMT was in power, a retired serviceman could become an ambassador and an elementary school graduate a high-ranking government official," Tsai said. "What's wrong with our strategy of putting the right person in the right place?"
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data