The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved the nomination of Yen Da-ho (顏大和) as prosecutor-general of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, without ballots from the opposition parties. Yen was put forward by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) last month.
The nomination was approved by 62 affirmative votes, reaching a majority in the 112-seat legislature.
None of the Democratic Progressive Party legislators cast ballots, with the party caucus stating that the party was not willing to endorse Ma’s nomination.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union also abstained from casting ballots. The 62 approval votes were from 61 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators and one independent.
Yen was nominated last month to replace former prosecutor-general Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘), who played a controversial role in the so-called “September political strife” last year between Ma and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) after he met with the president before publicly announcing the result of a Special Investigation Division investigation and authorizing a series of wiretaps.
After his nomination was approved, Yen said that human rights should be respected in future prosecutors’ criminal investigations.
“Prosecutors will step up efforts to crack down on bribery in the seven-in-one elections in November, and the Special Investigation Division will continue to look into judges and prosecutors who are suspected of taking bribes,” Yen said.
In response to media queries on students and members of the public facing criminal investigations into the Sunflower movement and related rallies, Yen said: “The law punishes lawbreakers, regardless of their status.”
Meanwhile, Judicial Reform Foundation executive director Kao Jung-chih (高榮志) issued a statement requesting Yen to make a public pledge that he would adhere to the Constitution and not brief details of any ongoing investigations to the president and that he would only meet with the president at public occasions.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
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