Department of Health (DOH) Director-General Lee Ming-liang (李明亮) yesterday revealed some of the candidates to take over his position after the Executive Yuan approved his resignation on Friday.
According to Lee, DOH Deputy Director-General Twu Shiing-jer (
Local Chinese-language media have also suggested that former minister without portfolio Chen Jin-huang (
Twu, who only took on his position two months ago, is regarded as the leading candidate because of his close ties to the president.
Since Lee's resignation will take effect on the same day the government raises the amount people pay into the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, and the first day of registration for the next session of the Legislative Yuan, opposition lawmakers yesterday criticized him for trying to dodge his responsibilities.
"If Lee leaves office on the same day the new scheme [to raise NHI payments] starts, who should be responsible for the results of the new policy?" PFP Legislator Lin Hui-kuan (
Lin also accused Lee of "trying to evade lawmakers' criticism and supervision [of the new NHI payment scheme] because he will leave office on the day when a new legislative session starts."
In response, Lee said he had not chosen to resign suddenly but that it had been an "ongoing process" since he first mentioned his intention to resign in February.
"The policies and directions of the rise in NHI payments has been set so that whoever takes over the post will not be confused," Lee said.
Lee was also criticized for a remark he made on Saturday, in which he said: "The hardest thing for me in being a government official is that I cannot tell the truth and I cannot lie either."
Shen said that someone with a clear conscience should speak the truth before leaving office.
"Since Lee enjoys a good reputation in society, he cannot leave when so many details [regarding NHI reform] have been left unresolved," Shen said.
In response, Lee told reporters yesterday, "What I meant was that I could not tell [the truth] when the policies had not been decided yet. As for the lies, I am just saying that I am not someone who lies."
Taipei on Thursday held urban resilience air raid drills, with residents in one of the exercises’ three “key verification zones” reporting little to no difference compared with previous years, despite government pledges of stricter enforcement. Formerly known as the Wanan exercise, the air raid drills, which concluded yesterday, are now part of the “Urban Resilience Exercise,” which also incorporates the Minan disaster prevention and rescue exercise. In Taipei, the designated key verification zones — where the government said more stringent measures would be enforced — were Songshan (松山), Zhongshan (中山) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts. Air raid sirens sounded at 1:30pm, signaling the
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
The number of people who reported a same-sex spouse on their income tax increased 1.5-fold from 2020 to 2023, while the overall proportion of taxpayers reporting a spouse decreased by 4.4 percent from 2014 to 2023, Ministry of Finance data showed yesterday. The number of people reporting a spouse on their income tax trended upward from 2014 to 2019, the Department of Statistics said. However, the number decreased in 2020 and 2021, likely due to a drop in marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic and the income of some households falling below the taxable threshold, it said. The number of spousal tax filings rebounded
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
RSS