The central government has been outmaneuvered and embarrassed by a renegade county commissioner, but would prevail in the end through legal means, officials said yesterday.
Taitung County Commissioner Wu Chun-li (
"Nobody is allowed to challenge the law. What Wu has done, including his fake `divorce' with his wife, sets a bad example for the public," Yao said.
Yao made his remarks during a press conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning. Yao said that the central government was handling Wu's case by following the law, but that Wu's appointment of his wife as deputy was truly unexpected.
The minister said that as Wu had been suspended upon being sworn in as commissioner, he did not have the right to appoint a deputy.
Under these circumstances, the government will appoint an acting commissioner to do his job temporarily, he said.
Yao quoted Premier Frank Hsieh (
Wu was convicted of corruption by the Taiwan High Court but has appealed the ruling. In the meantime, he has also been charged with vote-buying and is currently out on NT$1 million (US$29,800) bail.
By law, Wu would be immediately suspended from his position upon his swearing-in. Knowing this, Wu divorced his wife Kuang Li-chen (
Wu appointed Kuang before Minister of the Council of Indigenous Peoples Walis Pelin (
However, Pelin said that Wu's suspension was effective immediately upon his being sworn in and that he therefore did not have the right to name a deputy.
The Taitung County Government said that Kuang and its Secretary-General Lai Shun-hsien (
Although Wu is suspended, he can still run in a by-election by resigning and retaking the oath of office if re-elected.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday that Wu's appointment of his spouse as his deputy was illegal and the public should support the government's move to suspend him from the post.
DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (
Even though Wu thought his actions were valid, Hsu said that he had violated the Public Officials Conflict of Interest Prevention Law (
Although Wu divorced his wife on Monday, Hsu said that it should be considered invalid because it violates Article 87 of the civil code for plotting a fake divorce.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
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TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
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