The legislature yesterday approved the appointments of all seven Fair Trade Commission members and National Communications Commission (NCC) member Chiang Yu-feng (江幽芬), but withheld the review of Wang Yung-ho (汪用和) until the next legislative session next month.
Although the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus voted against the nominees and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus abstained from voting, the candidates passed the review with the support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers.
FTC Chairman Wu Shiow-ming (吳秀明) and Vice Chairman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群), along with the other five candidates, all passed the minimum required number of votes — ie, 54, or more than half of the 106 lawmakers presents — and were approved as members of the independent commission.
Photo: CNA
The lawmakers voted 63 to 41 in favor of Chiang’s nomination with two invalid votes, but decided to postpone the review of Wang’s candidacy until the new session.
According to the National Communications Commission Organization Act (通傳會組織法), seven commissioners are to serve a four-year term after being nominated by the premier and approved by the legislature.
Wang and Chiang were nominated by the Executive Yuan last month to fill the vacancies created by the resignation of Chang Shi-chung (張時中) and Chen Yuan-ling (陳元玲).
However, Wang’s review last week was suspended after DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) raised the question of a potential conflict of interest because of her family’s business links to China.
Kuan said Wang’s uncle, Wang Chao-yong (汪潮涌), owns a Beijing-based investment firm called ChinaEquity Group and is also an investor in a firm owned by Wang’s father, Wang Da-hua (汪大華), that invests in value-added telecoms services.
Wang Yung-ho, the wife of former KMT lawmaker Justin Chou (周守訓), subsequently issued a press release accusing Kuan of mud-slinging, rebutting Kuan’s allegations that her father owns a Chinese-invested firm and saying her uncle’s investment in China does not operate in sectors that falls under the NCC’s purview.
She added that Wang Chao-yong is not a blood relation and that she calls him uncle out of respect for his age.
The accusations made by the DPP that she might sell out Taiwanese interests constitute “character assassination,” she said.
“The DPP has blown everything out of proportion. Is every lawmaker who has friends investing in China likely to sell out the national interests?” Wang Yung-ho asked.
Cabinet Deputy Secretary-General Steven Chen (陳士魁) told reporters yesterday that the Executive Yuan continues to support Wang’s nomination and it was unfair to use her uncle’s business in China against her because “it is not illegal according to current regulations.”
Kuan blasted the Executive Yuan at a press conference for refusing to replace Wang with a new nominee and said Wang had lied in her press release.
Wang Chao-yung’s ChinaEquity Group has invested in telecommunications services and new media ventures, and the company owned by Wang’s father is registered with the Ministry of Economic Affairs as a “Chinese-invested company,” with 60 percent owned by Wang Chao-yung, Kuan said.
Premier Sean Chen needs to explain why the Executive Yuan insists on nominating Wang Yung-ho, Kuan said.
As for Wang Yung-ho’s contention that Internet service providers (ISP) — one of Wang Chao-yung’s business investment targets — do not fall under the NCC’s purview, DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said that ISPs and Internet content providers are both regulated by the NCC.
“Wang’s [Yung-ho] argument shows that she is not qualified to serve on the NCC board because she does not even know what the commission does,” Yeh 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,
The Taipei City Reserve Command yesterday initiated its first-ever 14-day recall of some of the city’s civilian service reservists, who are to undergo additional training on top of refresher courses. The command said that it rented sites in Neihu District (內湖), including the Taipei Tennis Center, for the duration of the camp to optimize tactical positioning and accommodate the size of the battalion of reservists. A battalion is made up of four companies of more than 200 reservists each, it said. Aside from shooting drills at a range in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the remainder of the training would be at
RSS