Legislators yesterday urged National Science Council (NSC), Chairman Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆), to safeguard the council from interference by the Executive Yuan's reshuffling plan, which would split up the council (which supervises the nation's science and technological development) into three separate agencies.
At a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's science and technology and information committee, some legislators said they are of the opinion that the development of science and technology remains the nation's top priority and the council should be kept after structural reshuffling of the Cabinet takes place -- or even made into its own ministry.
According to the Standard Organic Law of Central Government Agencies (中央政府機關組織基準法), 37 existing Cabinet-level agencies would be downsized and reshuffled into 13 ministries, four commissions and five independent institutions. The draft was introduced to the legislature last year and is expected to be passed during this legislative session.
The Cabinet-level council, established in 1959 to be responsible for promoting science and technology, is slated to be dismantled in the coming structural reshuffle.
"Most legislators believe that Taiwan should keep competing with the rest of the world, especially in the sci-tech development sector," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (
Wu was also characterized by Lai a voiceless council leader holding "a self-destructive attitude," which would disappoint academic circles and the nation's scientific community.
KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said that more than 20 academic associations comprised of professionals had expressed their opposition to the disappearance of the council a few days ago, but Wu failed to listen.
"You have to urge Premier Frank Hsieh (
In response to legislators, Wu said that he had suggested to the Legislative Yuan that the council be kept intact, but it was now up to lawmakers to decide the NSC's fate.
"The draft has been sent to the Legislative Yuan for approval," Wu said.
Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lo Chih-ming (
Lo also said that he and his colleagues would do their best to push the legislature to pass the national technology protection law this session in order to maintain the nation's economic competitiveness.
"That's why we want the council could be kept. Hopefully, a more powerful agency in charge of sci-tech development can ensure Taiwan's future," Lo said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods