The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said it constituted a conflict of interest for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) eldest sister, Ma Yi-nan (馬以南), to serve as a ranking member of the Chinese National Federation of Industries.
Speaking at a press conference, acting DPP Spokesman Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said Ma Yi-nan was recently invited to serve as the convener of the organization’s biotechnology section.
Chao said it was possible that Ma Yi-nan could use her position to act as a convenient “gate goddess” (門神) and ensure that the wishes of biotechnology and pharmaceutical interest groups are heard and granted by the government.
During last year’s presidential campaign, Ma Yi-nan’s business integrity and ties to her brother were called into question when DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) accused Ma Ying-jeou of violating the Public Officials’ Conflicts of Interests Prevention Act (公職人員利益衝突迴避法) by helping his sister, who worked as the deputy manager of China Chemical Pharmaceutical Co at the time, secure a contract supplying drugs to Taipei City Municipal Hospital during his term as mayor in 1998.
Chao said Ma Yi-nan had been invited to her current position by a man named Chen Huang-ming (陳煌銘), chairman of Kung Sing Engineering Corporation (KSECO), the primary contractor in the construction of the problematic Neihu rapid transit line.
KSECO has also been accused of funneling large political donations to Ma Ying-jeou and the matter remains unresolved, Chao added.
At a separate setting yesterday, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) dismissed the DPP’s accusation, saying the president has asked his family members, including first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青), to quit their jobs to prevent possible conflicts of interest.
Wang said the Chinese National Federation of Industries was a private group.
Not all opinions from private groups become government policy, he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS