New Chunghwa Post chairwoman Lee Jih-chu (李紀珠) said yesterday that she would increase communications with officials at the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to assure the commission that the postal firm will only take bearable risks if it is allowed to expand its business operations to the financial sector.
Lee replaced Oliver Yu (游芳來), who is scheduled to retire this month.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) said that Lee was mainly recruited to manage the postal savings fund, which has exceeded NT$500 billion (US$16.6 billion).
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“It is important for us to find ways to use this huge amount of money to effectively fund public works,” Yeh said.
“Meanwhile, we also have to make sure that the investment is safe because the money is from the general public” he said.
“Chairwoman Lee has extensive experience and many contacts in the financial sector, and we hope that she will find effective ways to use the fund,” he added.
However, while Lee served as the FSC’s deputy chairperson, the proposal to use the postal savings fund to invest in the nation’s public infrastructure projects was rejected by the commission.
Asked what it was like to see her status change from a “referee” to a “player,” Lee said that she has no problem adjusting to such a change and promised to enhance communications with financial officials.
“The problem lies in the fact that it [the postal company] does not know how to communicate with the administrative agency in charge [FSC], to assure them that doing so [expanding the postal company’s business operations to the finance sector] would not increase risks, or the company would only bear risks within a controllable range,” she said.
“Whether it is the postal savings fund or premiums we have collected through our life insurance plans, we all have an obligation to use the money wisely because it is from the nation’s middle and working class … It would hurt the company in the long run if it is continuously denied the opportunity to develop,” Lee said.
Lee said that she has met with the central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南), who said that he would “actively assist” the postal firm in offering savings account services in Chinese yuan and US dollars.
She added that the service could become available this year if the central bank approves her proposal.
Lee also said that there are different ways to invest in public infrastructure projects, including offering loans or buying bonds issued for these projects.
She said that she would have to see which option the postal company is best equipped to handle.
Private life insurance operators have opposed the postal company’s plan to expand its life insurance operation.
In response, Lee said that everyone should be open to the competition in the market.
Lee also said that the postal firm has a number of advantages, namely its employees and its corporate image, more than 2,500 service locations, 30 million savings and checking accounts, NT$500 billion in cash flow, information about a huge client base and a strong logistics system.
The key, she said, is to integrate these resources.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard