President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen asked that Su "take good care" of the problem and mete out punishment if necessary.
He also asked Yu to discuss the possibility of revamping exiting laws within the DPP caucus to make it mandatory to publish information on financial institutions with extravagant bad loans.
"I am totally baffled by the regulation. Why cannot the identity of the individuals who maliciously pilage financial institutions be made public? Why must it be the government and the public who are left to deal with the problems, while those who are responsible get away with it?" he asked.
Chen made the remarks during a press conference held in Managua, Nicaragua. He was visiting the nation's ally in Central America to attend the inauguration of Nicaraguan president-elect Daniel Ortega yesterday.
Yu is part of Chen's delegation in Nicaragua.
Two subsidiaries of the Rebar Asia Pacific Group (
The bank was taken over by the government through the Central Deposit Insurance Corp last Friday, causing a public uproar over alleged misuse of taxpayer's money.
Rebar Group chairman Wang You-theng (
Chen then commented on the fairness and utility of using taxpayer money to deal with the situation.
"The government must listen to the grievances of the people and bow humbly before them," he said.
On a separate issue, replying to a question about the constitutionality of prosecutors questioning the president, Chen said that it was open for debate and that the problem lies with the system rather than the person.
Chen caused a stir by relinquishing his presidential prerogative and accepting to be questioned by prosecutors investigating the alleged misuse of his "state affairs fund."
The DPP caucus has requested that the Council of Grand Justices determine whether prosecutors violated Article 52 of the Constitution, which grants immunity to the president except in case of sedition or treason.
While the Taipei District Court again requested that the Presidential Office present by today documents relating to the fund -- part of which Chen claims to have used for matters of secret diplomacy -- Chen said he would let the Presidential Office deal with the matter.
The office has refused to comply with the court's first request last month.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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