The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) highest decision-making body yesterday announced its list of Control Yuan nominees and will send it to the Presidential Office.
Operations at the nation's supreme watchdog were stopped on Jan. 31, 2005, when the terms of the previous Control Yuan members expired. Because of the opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan's refusal to endorse President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) list of nominees, the Control Yuan seats have remained unfilled for the past two years.
Chen agreed late last year to redraw the list of nominees and invited various political parties to recommend candidates.
The eight nominees are media commentator Nan Fang-shuo (南方朔), former Control Yuan member Yeh Yao-peng (葉耀鵬), Ko Ming-mou (柯明謀), Lin Shu-chi (林時機), Chao Chang-ping (趙昌平), Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光), a political science professor at National Taiwan University, Ma Hsiu-ru (馬秀如), an accounting professor at National Chengchi University and former Taipei City councilor Lin Shui-chi (林水吉).
Thanks, but no
The party recommended Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), an author and professor at the University of Hong Kong, but Lung turned down the offer.
"I want to stay as an independent pen for society. It's not an easy decision, but speaking for the middle force in society is a crucial social responsibility," Lung said in a written statement.
Defending the list, KMT Acting Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) said yesterday the nominees were the best candidates available.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chin-de (
Reconsider
Chen Chin-de yesterday called a press conference urging the KMT to reconsider its candidates.
"If the KMT decided to adhere to the list, I the president should turn it down. If not, I will work with other lawmakers to vote it down in the legislature," he said.
He said that all of them, except Nan, were not qualified to be Control Yuan members.
Among the seven, Chen Chin-de said former Control Yuan member Yeh, former Taipei city councilor Lin and former provincial councilor Ker were "extremely incompetent" because of their strong partisanship.
Additional reporting by CNA
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai