Premier Yu Shyi-kun seems to have played a marginal role in recent government policy-making and some say his poor performance has eroded President Chen Shui-bian's (
Opposition KMT and PFP legislative caucuses yesterday even ridiculed Yu's influence as the nation's highest administrative officer as "evaporating from this veil of tears."
"What President Chen has done recently clearly encroaches on the constitutional authority of the Executive Yuan and causes administrative disorder," said KMT legislative caucus Secretary-General Liu Cheng-hung (
DPP legislative caucus Secretary-General Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), however, retorted by saying that Liu was clueless about the situation.
"His remarks simply demonstrated his ignorance because what the premier did in the fight against SARS has been well documented by the media," Chen Chi-mai said.
Jumping to Yu's defense, Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday that the relationship between the premier and the president has never been stronger.
"The talk about the relationship turning sour is totally groundless and it's unfair to the premier," Lin said. "I hope opposition lawmakers will offer more encouragement and constructive opinions than irrational criticism."
Lin said that recent government policies to deal with the SARS crisis -- including extending the deadline for some tax returns, leave restrictions on military personnel and nationwide temperature checks -- were first proposed by the premier and then approved by the president.
Although Chen Shui-bian does not have the constitutional authority to interfere in certain domestic affairs, he did -- during a videoconference with Yu on Monday -- instruct the Cabinet to study the possibility of extending by one month the June 2 deadline for filing last year's tax returns.
Chen Shui-bian also asked the Ministry of National Defense to loosen restrictions on military leave, which have been in place since May 13 to help prevent the spread of SARS.
The leave restrictions had created discontent within the military because Chen Shui-bian's son, Chen Chih-chung (
Responding to the proposal made by Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (
In yet another surprising move, Chen on May 20 asked the Cabinet to push for a referendum on the country's entry into the World Health Organization following the nation's failed bid to join the World Health Assembly.
The Cabinet was once again caught off guard on May 24 when Chen Shui-bian announced that the government would spend approximately NT$120 billion to build three separate rail links to CKS International Airport, in an effort to boost local economies affected by SARS.
The decision shelved an earlier six-year effort to have private contractors construct the build-operate-transfer (BOT) project.
A day earlier, Chen announced that he had invited KMT Vice Chairman Vincent Siew (
Political observers have construed the string of moves as Chen's dissatisfaction with the Cabinet's performance in dealing with economic problems, as the economy will be the most important issue in next year's presidential election campaign.
A political blunder made by the education ministry also irked the president.
On May 23, Minister of Education Huang Jong-tsun (
The ministry had said one day earlier that this year's exam would not include the essay section and would consist only of a multiple-choice section in both the Chinese and English sections of the exam. The multiple choice portions of the exam are graded by computer.
The next day, the ministry announced that the essays would be included after all.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai