After the pan-blue camp's landslide victory in the Hualien County Commissioner by-election, the Minister of the Interior Yu Chen-hsien (
People -- from his comrades in DPP to the members of the opposition KMT and PFP parties -- believe that because of intensive crackdown on bribery, Yu should be responsible for the result.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
"The DPP campaign tactics in the by-election were too crude, especially the bribery crackdown ordered by Yu," said TSU Legislator Chen Chien-ming (
"We have to thank Minister Yu. He helped us win the election," said commissioner-elect Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山).
Yu has been a man of controversy since he began his political career at the age of 28 as a lawmaker from Kaohsiung County, where his family, one of the largest political factions there, has dominated for decades.
As the grandson of Yu Teng-fa (余登發), a major figure in the fight for Taiwanese democracy, Yu was destined to be deeply connected with the DPP. After his seven-year legislative career, Yu was elected Kaohsiung County Magistrate, succeeding his mother Yu Chen Yueh-ying (余陳月瑛).
After President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was elected in 2000, Yu was appointed interior minister with other consecutive appointments for a slew of his family members: His mother obtained the post of senior presidential advisor and his sister, Yu Ling-ya, became Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council Speaker. His wife Cheng Kui-lien (鄭貴蓮) and his brother Yu Jan-daw (余政道) were nominated by the DPP to run for the legislature. Both succeeded.
Some claimed that his family achieved their political goals with presidential guanxi, not by what they have done for this nation.
After he was named to manage Taiwan's interior affairs, Yu made numerous promises, drawing a lot of fire -- and he was not hesitant to return his own volley of invective.
His promise to bring the nation's growing crime rate to a dead stop was called a "bluff" by some lawmakers. To Yu's discredit, the rate continued on its upward slope.
In March, Yu touted his idea that the government provide illegal Chinese female immigrants with abortions, and idea which drew strong objections from religious groups.
When it was discovered that Yu made use of a police car to pick up his elementary school children earlier this year, declaring that he just wanted "to protect his children."
Yu is also a sports fanatic, and maybe the most renowned baseball fan in the Cabinet. The minister never forgets to assist baseball players with their problems and does whatever he can to make baseball in Taiwan prosper.
But his "sportsmanship" has also caused him strike out several times.
In November last year, the minister was absent from a Legislative Yuan hearing and was later found to be attending a baseball series in South Korea. Lawmakers, angered by what they viewed as dereliction of duty, showed a live TV broadcast of Yu attending one game of the series to the public.
Some of his subordinates think their boss is a responsible man with guts on a quest for efficient government, but some think otherwise.
"He is an idiot minister, doing stupid things," said a civil servant contemptuously who asked not to be identified.
The DPP Standing Committee will have a meeting today to review the Hualien by-election results and name winners and sinners. Yu may not be the only scapegoat named in the interest of party solidarity, but his leadership style and track record is bound to result in him being cast as a disputatious politician in the history books.
EXCUSES: Beijing is using government and research vessels as a pretext to harass the nation and enter its EEZ, and engage in ‘hegemonic expansion,’ the coast guard said The Coast Guard Administration yesterday said it drove away Chinese oceanographic research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 22 (向陽紅33) from restricted waters after warning it that it was in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Chinese vessel entered restricted waters off the coast of Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) at 11:35pm on Thursday, the coast guard said, adding that it dispatched the Lanyu patrol vessel and the boat PP-10077 to shadow the Chinese ship and issue radio warnings ordering it to leave. China has no sovereignty over waters off Taiwan’s east coast, Lanyu’s crew told Xiang Yang Hong 22 over the radio, and demanded
BAIT AND SWITCH: Allowing KMT-run counties to sell to China while the threat of abrupt cancelations hangs overhead is another form of coercion, officials said Beijing is using agricultural purchase offers announced during the Straits Forum to deepen Taiwan’s dependence on the Chinese market, a Taiwanese official said yesterday as they criticized the Taitung County commissioner’s participation in the initiative. During the Straits Forum held in Xiamen on Saturday, Chinese officials announced a sales and purchase agreement for agricultural products from some counties led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴), who was barred from attending the event in person by the Mainland Affairs Council, participated via video. Under the agreement, China would purchase atemoyas, pomeloes, tea and grouper harvested in Taitung,
SHIFTING FIRE: While the tempo of purely military exercises around Taiwan has gone down somewhat, Beijing is working to isolate Lai diplomatically from support abroad Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is shifting tactics in his campaign to pressure Taiwan, ramping up diplomatic isolation of the nation while dialing down provocative displays of military aggression. Taiwan recorded a daily average of five Chinese military aircraft crossing the Taiwan Strait’s buffer line with China through May this year — half the number logged in the same period last year. In March, Beijing did not send a single fighter jet near Taiwan for seven days, the longest absence on record outside of typhoon season. In comparison, China sent 153 planes near Taiwan during one day at its peak in
Four Taiwanese universities have been ranked among the world's top 200 institutions in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for next year, the highest Taiwan has ever placed in the category, with National Taiwan University (NTU) achieving its best performance at 54th globally and 17th in Asia. The four Taiwanese institutions in the global top 200 are NTU (54th), National Tsing Hua University (142nd), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (177th) and National Cheng Kung University (191st), the rankings showed. All four universities achieved their highest-ever global rankings this year, QS data showed. National Cheng Kung University entered the top 200 for
RSS