The Cabinet promised yesterday that it would not manipulate the National Communications Commission (NCC) by freezing its annual budget.
"Our stance on the NCC is that it will remain as an independent government body, the government and the legislature will help the NCC to operate constitutionally and the government will continue to urge the legislature to amend the law [the Organic Law of the National Communications Commission (
Cheng said that as the Council of Grand Justices had decided that the NCC would remain an independent body under the Cabinet, the Cabinet would not manipulate the NCC in any aspect, nor limit its budget.
The spokesman said that the major problem with the NCC was that it worked in isolation and did not cooperate with government bodies or follow government policies.
"We simply want to ensure that the NCC can work with the Cabinet -- that's all," he said.
"They [NCC members] must understand that no matter what policies or decisions are made, they will have to be passed by the Cabinet before they can be implemented. That's the way a team works," Cheng said.
Cheng said that as long as the NCC toed the line, it would not be interfered with.
"The idea that the NCC should not be interfered with or impacted on by politics remains unchanged," he said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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