President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday nominated former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman John Kuan (關中) as head of the Examination Yuan and former Control Yuan member Chen Jinn-lih (陳進利) as vice president of the Control Yuan.
Ma also nominated three Examination Yuan members and five grand justices. The nomination of Kuan, Chen and the three Examination Yuan members was presented after Ma’s original nominations of Chang Chun-yen (張俊彥) as Examination Yuan president, Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) as Control Yuan vice president and three other nominees affiliated with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were rejected.
“The nominees are great choices, and we hope the legislature will approve the nominations,” Ma said when receiving the nominees at the Presidential Office yesteday.
PHOTO: CNA
Kuan, 68, had served as vice president of the Examination Yuan. He resigned as the KMT vice chairman after being informed of the nomination, and brushed aside claims that his position was a reward for his campaign efforts during the presidential election.
“If you know what I’ve achieved during the six years in the Examination Yuan and what I’ve contributed to related policies and reforms, you will know that I am an expert in the field,” Kuan said.
When asked about his long-term involvement in KMT affairs, Kuan said he would seek to strike a balance between party politics and the neutrality required of civil servants.
“I believe I will be able to make some contributions to establishing the civil office system with my expertise and experience,” he said.
Chen vowed to assist Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien to clamp down on corruption, and said the Control Yuan should list the “319 shooting” investigation as a priority.
The “319 shooting” refers to the election-eve attack on former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and former vice-president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) on March 19, 2004.
Chen Jinn-lih, a member of the Amis tribe, will become the first Control Yuan vice president with an Aboriginal background if the Legislative Yuan approves his nomination.
Chang had dropped out of the legislative confirmation vote in July following allegations that he had accepted payments from Polaris Securities Co during his time as president of National Chiao Tung University.
The three Control Yuan nominees are former Control Yuan member Yeh Yao-peng (葉耀鵬), National Union of Nurses president Yin Jeo-chen (尹祚芊) and Chen Yung-hsiang (陳永祥), a civil engineering professor at National Taiwan University.
The five nominees for the Council of Grand Justices are attorney and National Taiwan University (NTU) law professor Huang Mao-jung (黃茂榮), National Chengchi University law professor Chen Ming (陳敏), Supreme Administrative Court judge Yeh Bai-xiu (葉百修), Academia Sinica researcher Chen Hsin-min (陳新民) and Chen Chun-sheng (陳春生), an honorary professor with National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of National Development.
The Presidential Office will present the nominations to the Legislative Yuan on Friday for approval.
Wang Chien-shien said Ma had made a good choice in nominating Chen Jinn-lih as Control Yuan vice president.
“Not many Aborigines have had the opportunity to work for Yuan-level governmental agencies in the past,” he said. “If he were to become vice president of the Control Yuan, it would be an encouragement to Aborigines and would meet with the expectations of Aboriginal people.”
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus opposed Kuan’s nomination.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) told a press conference that a person like Kuan, who has been deeply involved with the KMT’s affairs, would be incapable of creating fair mechanisms for screening qualified government officials.
Defending Ma’s nomination of Kuan, KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said Kuan was qualified, given his experience as vice president of the Examination Yuan and minister of the civil service.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan, Flora Wang and Jimmy Chuang
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS