Monthly payments to Lin Hsiu-chen (
The Chinese-language China Times yesterday published a story which cited NSB officials as saying that in addition to receiving a monthly payment of NT$25,000 while named as a janitor on the payroll of the Presidential Office, Lin also received more than NT$20,000 per month from the NSB as a "secret service subsidy."
NSB officials said Lin -- better known to the public as Auntie A-ching (
But because of changes in her working conditions, the subsidy was stopped this month, according to the reports.
The subsidy is given to secret service staff maintaining the security of the president and the vice president, and Lin's subsidy was equal to that paid to an army captain, the reports said.
Opposition lawmakers lambasted the subsidy payments as "highly improper," but the Democratic Progressive Party caucus said that in view of the public feelings, the subsidy for the past five years -- estimated at around NT$1.16 million (US$35,000) -- had been returned.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Tsai Chin-lung (
People First Party caucus whip Lu Hsueh-chang (
Taiwan Solidarity Union Le-gislator Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) said that Lin's claiming of the subsidy was outrageous and that the NSB should make a full review.
Lin had since earlier this month resigned from the Presidential Office, but she remains in Chen's private employ at his own expense.
Presidential Office Spokesman David Lee (
That money included salary and bonuses paid to Lin from Presidential Office funds and the NSB funds, and money paid for Lin since Chen Hsing-yu married and moved into her parent's house on Minsheng E Road in Taipei five years ago, Lee said.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
RSS