Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) apologized to the public yesterday for his remark that the inventor of unpaid leave deserved to receive a Nobel Prize.
“I would hereby like to apologize if the public had a different interpretation [of my remark] and if it caused any inconvenience,” Wu said in a written statement, adding that he did not intend to cause offence.
Wu drew widespread criticism from civic groups and legislators on Wednesday over comments he made on Tuesday while meeting with winners of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ award for creating substantial job opportunities.
He said that whoever created the unpaid leave system deserved the Nobel Prize because the system helped businesses retain ties to their employees during the global economic crisis without the need for severance pay, adding that it allowed employees to return to their jobs when the economy improved.
Enraged by Wu’s comments, labor activists on Wednesday called the premier “brain dead,” saying he was insensitive to the plight of workers. Wu at the time responded by saying people needed to develop a sense of humor.
Finding that his explanation failed to quell labor groups’ anger, Wu issued a written apology yesterday, saying he was only giving credit to workers and employers for their cooperation and mutual understanding during the harsh economic downturn.
Earlier yesterday, about 20 young labor rights activists staged a protest outside the Executive Yuan, calling Wu “brainless.”
“Many corporations took the opportunity [presented by unpaid leave during the economic downturn] to lay off employees or force senior workers to resign,” Youth Labor Union 95 member Hu Meng-yu (胡孟瑀) said.
Lee Ying-hsuan (李盈萱), one of the protesters, said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should allow the premier to take unpaid leave so he could develop a sense of empathy for the difficulties faced by workers.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS