Michael Hsiao (蕭新煌), who recently resigned from his position as a member of the supervisory board of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD), said in an interview last Monday that since the inauguration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the government has displayed a skewed understanding of the word “government.”
“It seems that only the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] government qualifies as a government, while the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] government was not a government,” he said.
As a result, members of the TFD, the Overseas Chinese Culture and Education Foundation and the Council for Hakka Affairs have been replaced for a variety of reasons, Hsiao said.
“I think this is frightening,” Hsiao said.
In response to speculation that the government wanted former KMT legislator Huang Teh-fu (黃德福) to take over as president of the TFD, Hsiao said no one would raise an eyebrow as long as a suitable person was chosen as replacement, but that in his view, “Huang is too partisan.”
Hsiao said what he found frightening about the government was that “while it criticizes others, it turns around and does exactly the same thing that it is criticizing others for doing.”
The Council for Hakka Affairs used to hold a meeting every two months, he said, but since Ma became president, the meetings are often skipped.
With new council members set to be appointed next week, Hsiao said the government’s approach to handling groups like the council “is to avoid holding regular meetings and then appointing new members once the terms are up.”
Hsiao said the Overseas Chinese Commission’s Overseas Chinese Culture and Education Foundation had also replaced board members. Although it was within the government’s rights to appoint board members, he questioned whether the new members had sufficient expertise.
Hsiao said he suspected that although the government claimed the changes were being made to improve the groups, they were in fact politically motivated.
There were also reports that the Foundation for Excellent Journalism Award, the National Culture and Arts Foundation and the Public Television Service — which all cooperated well with the previous government — have had problems applying for funds since Ma took office and that lower officials were afraid to contact the Ma government.
Hsiao said he felt these were the most objectionable aspects of the Ma administration.
Despite the fact that there had been a change in government, cooperation with all these organizations should still be possible, but the present government refuses to cooperate with any organization that had good relations with the former DPP government.
“This is very serious,” he said. “And this must come from the top, with lower-level staff afraid to question it.”
Hsiao said the Ma government is active when it comes to replacing people, but passive when it comes to cooperation. It uses these two approaches to deal with agencies, foundations and other green organizations in the DPP periphery, he added.
“This is very unprofessional,” he said. “They have completely misunderstood the fact that there is only one government. It seems only the KMT government qualifies as a government, and that when someone else is in power, they are [something different].”
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
RSS