The TSU legislative caucus slammed the pan-blue alliance yesterday for stonewalling the passage of a "national loyalty check" bill.
Worse still, the TSU caucus said the KMT and PFP pushed for amending the Civil Servant Employment Law (
The TSU caucus claimed that the pan-blue alliance's moves have created holes in the nation's security system and left room for agents from China to infiltrate Taiwan.
The TSU caucus was responding to its KMT and PFP counterparts' recent criticism of National Security Council Secretary-General Kang Ning-hsiang (
The alliance said Kang's employment of Chang Pei-chen (
Chang, who had devoted herself to research on the Chinese economy for 20 years at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research before she joined the council on April 1, resigned from her council post last Saturday.
Her resignation came after a local newspaper reported that her husband had used her name to set up a company in Hong Kong which cooperated with the business arm of China's Ministry of Railways in operating land development deals in Shanghai.
TSU legislative whip Chien Lin Huei-jyun (
Chien Lin said the pan-blue alliance is to blame for the loose security checks conducted on civil servants.
She pointed out that the TSU came up with a host of draft bills in May last year with a view to tightening the protection of military intelligence and other national secrets.
However, Chien Lin said, the KMT and the PFP had boycotted screening of these bills. She said the two parties had stonewalled the transfer of the national loyalty bill to the legislature's Judiciary Committee for deliberation 17 times.
Without the enactment of this bill, Chien Lin said, government agencies cannot conduct stringent loyalty checks on would-be civil servants.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS