The Executive Yuan announced yesterday that former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) will serve as the new Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister, while former professional basketball star Rosa Chien (錢薇娟) will serve as the deputy minister for the Sports Affairs Council.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) called the new Cabinet as a “dumping ground for defeated lawmakers,” saying that Chien ran unsuccessfully in last month’s legislative elections as a KMT candidate, while Chang didn’t even secure the KMT’s nomination in the first place.
“This goes to show President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) arrogance — he ignores professionalism and treats government appointments as political rewards,” Pan said.
The DPP lawmaker cited other examples, such as the appointments of Chen Yi-chen (陳以真), who ran unsuccessfully as a KMT legislative candidate in Chiayi County, to head the National Youth Commission and Lin Yi-shih (林益世), who lost his re-election bid last month, to the post of the Executive Yuan secretary-general.
Other deputy minister appointments announced by the Executive Yuan included Hsu Jen-hui (徐仁輝) for the Ministry of Finance; Yeh Shin-cheng (葉欣誠) for the Environmental Protection Administration; Chou Yuan-ching (周源卿), Atomic Energy Council; Hochen Hong (賀陳弘), National Science Council; Wu Kuo-an (吳國安), Public Construction Commission; and Lee Chao-ming (李朝明) for the Council for Hakka Affairs.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS