Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators marched to the Control Yuan yesterday to accuse the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) of spreading “racist” propaganda in its recent efforts to promote an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
Led by caucus convener Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) and secretary-general Wang Sing-nan (王幸男), the group, which included DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), also called on the Control Yuan to expedite the vote-buying case against former Chinese Nationalist Party legislator Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井).
The case has already passed its six-month review period, the DPP said.
The MOEA last Monday unveiled a comic strip explaining the ECFA to gain public support for the trade pact.
The cartoon drew heavy criticism from the DPP, which accused the ministry of discrimination.
The comic strip featured two characters — Yi-ge, an ethnic Taiwanese, male vocational school graduate from Tainan who speaks poor Mandarin, and his female counterpart, Fa-sao, a Hakka from Hsinchu with a high-ranking job at an import/export company.
While Yi-ge is portrayed as an unmotivated individual who is clueless about the ECFA yet opposed to it, Fa-sao is well-informed and ambitious and supports the trade deal.
“The cartoon obviously looks down on those from Tainan. This is blatant racial and gender discrimination,” Chai said, adding that MOEA Minister Yiin Chii-ming’s (尹啟銘) apology was not enough and the ministry should stop distribution of the leaflet.
Cheng said the MOEA was arrogant and prejudiced and that it was unfathomable that the government would promote its policy at the expense of smearing ethnic Taiwanese.
Control Yuan review committee member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) said he had not seen the comic strip, but if the material was as inflammatory as described by the pan-green camp, “then there would be room for review.”
Regarding the case against Liao, Huang said he would look into the matter and ask the agencies involved to explain the delay.
Liao was found guilty of vote-buying at his first trial in October. The court annulled his election to the legislature. The Taiwan High Court took over the case in December.
Cheng said according to the Public Official Election and Recall Law (公職人員選舉罷免法), a verdict must be reached within six months.
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