The legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday dismissed its morning session again because of the absence of Minister Without Portfolio Simon Chang (張善政).
The committee was to hear briefings on Thursday last week from the National Communications Commission (NCC) on its plan to issue mobile broadband business licenses.
Chang was invited to attend the meeting, but did not show up.
Since lawmakers on the committee said they wanted to consult with Chang on some policy issues, the committee decided to dismiss the meeting and reschedule.
The committee also passed a resolution condemning Chang for contempt of the legislature.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) and Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) said Chang was in charge of the nation’s scientific and technological affairs and can dictate the policies for mobile communications and cloud-computing technologies, while the commission and the ministry simply executed what the Cabinet said. Yet the officials from the commission and Ministry of Transportation and Communications arrived for the meeting yesterday, and Chang did not.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said that Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) would soon convene a bipartisan negotiation session to determine whether ministers without portfolio should be present at the committee meeting.
The committee then decided to dismiss meeting at 10am.
Meanwhile, NCC Chairman Howard Shyr (石世豪) said new NCC commissioners should assume office in March.
The Executive Yuan nominated former television anchorwoman Wang Yung-ho (汪用和) and NCC adviser Chiang Yu-fen (江幽芬) to be the new NCC commissioners.
Wang’s appointment was interpreted as the returning of a political favor because she is the wife of former KMT legislator Justin Chou (周守訓).
In response, Shyr said Wang’s experience as television news reporter is relevant to her job as NCC commissioner. She has been devoted to a lot of community service lately and knows how to communicate with the public, he said.
Chiang is a very experienced civil servant and has participated in the amending of three major broadcasting acts, Shyr said.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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