Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Pasuya Yao (
"I take full responsibility for the full-page newspaper advertisement that the GIO ran a couple of days ago," Yao said at a meeting of a legislative committee.
"But I admit that it was not appropriate for Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] Chairman Ma's [Ying-jeou (
CONTROVERSIAL AD
Yao was referring to the GIO's full-page advertisement defending the Cabinet's proposal for a national communication commission (NCC).
The ad said the proposed commission would be a neutral body and avoid politics.
The KMT insists that the commission's membership should be distributed among the political parties based on the number of seats they hold in the legislature.
The ad "requested" Ma's help in keeping the commission non-political, but many viewed the ad as insulting both Ma and the KMT.
"I am a government official who was appointed by the ruling party. I think it is quite natural for me to defend the ruling party's policies. There is nothing wrong with it," Yao said.
`SLACKER' ALLEGATION
In addition to coming under fire over the advertisement, Yao was accused of being a slacker during President Chen Shui-bian's (
According to reports in the Chinese-language media, Yao invited one of the stewardesses on the presidential charter flight out for drinks during the visit to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, and the drinking session went on late into the night.
MISTAKES
The reports said that Yao made mistakes during his press briefings the following day and dozed off dozing during a press conference given by Chen -- actions the reports attributed to his night out.
People First Party Legislator Diane Lee (
Yao said Lee should not believe the rumors.
"I am embarrassed ... and I apologize," Yao said, in an apparent reference to being caught dozing off.
"As for the drinking part, I have said it many times before that the stewardess is the girlfriend of a good friend. We did not stay up all night, either," he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS