Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien yesterday lauded President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) handling of allegations of influence-peddling surrounding Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
Wang Jin-pyng is accused by the Special Investigations Division (SID) of taking legal pressure off Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) by allegedly peddling his influence with former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫), High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) and High Prosecutors’ Office prosecutor Lin Shiow-tao (林秀濤).
Wang Chien-shien said that despite the fact that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators comprise about three-quarters, or 84 members of the total of 113 seats of the Legislative Yuan, the party was still being held in a choke-hold by DPP members.
The KMT had accomplished nothing from 2008 to last year and “Wang Jin-pyng’s tact in dealing with people, his preference for negotiation, was the reason, Wang Chien-shien said.
“He should have stepped down long ago and apologized to both the party and the nation,” Wang Chien-shien said.
He added said that Wang Jin-pyng was unfit for the role of legislative speaker.
What people see almost every day is legislators fighting each other, taking over the podium, negotiating, but they do not get anything done, except maybe fighting and counting how many fists are backing you, Wang Chien-shien said, pointing to the cross-strait trade services agreement as an example of how the opposition party was tying up legislative procedure.
There is a reason why the Legislative Yuan had been said to be among the worst congressional entities in the world, Wang Chien-shien said, adding that the legislative speaker had to take some responsibility for what the Legislative Yuan had become.
“Ma has been pushed to the edge because the party in majority is actually being dominated by the minority,” Wang Chien-shien said, adding that Ma had done the right thing.
“Ma was the perfect little lamb; he always has been, and we called him on in, saying that he had no guts, no courage; he’s really brave by tackling the issue the way he has, it is not how we normal people would handle things,” Wang Chien-shien said, adding: “If this case gets overturned and Wang continues as legislative speaker, Ma should just announce that he is stepping down.”
Wang Jin-pyng would of course feel some regret that his political career has maybe come to an end, “but if such regrets come back to haunt the nation in the form of political struggle, it would be something that betrays the Taiwanese,” Wang Chien-shien said.
It is only normal for Wang Jin-pyng’s friends, both personal and political, to feel that he has been wronged, but “they should consider how our progeny, and our forebears, would look upon them if they were the fount of unrest in the legislature, or even the nation,” Wang Chien-shien said.
Some may feel that the Legislative Yuan without Wang Jin-pyng would be even more chaotic than ever, but Wang Chien-shien said that no one was 100 percent indispensable.
“We’ve weathered the passing of [former] presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國); there were mutters then that things would be bad, but we are still here,” Wang Chien-shien said.
If Wang Jin-pyng feels that he is indispensable to legislature, and even harbors the hope that the legislature would become bogged down with differences just to show his own importance, “then he is unfit to bear the surname Wang,” Wang Chien-shien said.
Commenting on the DPP’s response to the whole matter — lambasting Ma, calling off the planned debate on the cross-strait trade services agreement and being protective of Ker — Wang Chien-shien said that the public should feel sad to have an opposition party like the DPP.
The SID has also done well, and Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) should be lauded for a job well done, Wang Chien-shien said.
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
One of two tropical depressions that formed offshore this morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. It is expected to move in a northwesterly direction as it continues building momentum, possibly intensifying into Typhoon Mitag this weekend, she added. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is expected to approach southeast of Taiwan on Monday and pass through the Bashi Channel between Tuesday and Wednesday,
About nine Taiwanese are “disappeared,” detained, or otherwise deprived of freedom of movement in China each month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Between Jan. 1 last year and Aug. 31 this year, 188 Taiwanese travelers went missing, were detained and interrogated, or had their personal freedom restricted, with some questioned in airports or hotel lobbies, the council said. In a statement ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the council urged people visiting China for any reason to be highly vigilant and aware of the risks. Of the reported cases, 50 people were “disappeared” after entering China, 19 were detained and 119 had