A media report that the Executive Yuan is about to hire the wife of new presidential spokesperson Yin Wei (殷瑋) drew criticism yesterday.
The report comes amid a series of government hirings, which the opposition describes as “political rewards” for people in President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “inner circle.”
The Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday cited an unidentified person as saying that the Executive Yuan had interviewed Yin’s wife, Yeh Nai-yu (葉乃瑜), in private for a position at the newly established new media department and that she would be hired, even though the vacancy has yet to be announced publicly.
Photo: CNA
Yin, former deputy director of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Culture and Communications Committee, was appointed spokesperson for the Presidential Office on Saturday.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) yesterday accused the Executive Yuan of “black-box” hiring” designed he said to only reward “comrades.”
Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) rejected the accusation, saying the office is not holding open recruitment and that Yeh “was the only candidate who has rich experience in filmmaking and policy promotion and communication.”
Sun said he could not think who could have recommended Yeh for the position.
Responding to the report on Facebook, Yeh denied taking advantage of her husband’s position to apply for the job.
She said she had worked in the Presidential Office for three years in related fields and had resigned upon Yin’s transfer to the Presidential Office.
Yeh said she could have stayed if she wanted to exploit Yin’s power, but added that she was willing to give up the job opportunity if Yin asked her to.
The 26-year-old, who previously worked for the KMT’s Youth Corps, described the report and the public discourse on the issue as “gender discrimination and male chauvinism.”
The media report came on the heels of the Taiwan Provincial Government’s controversial rehiring of former civil servant Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英).
Kuo had been dismissed in 2009 for making derogatory remarks about ethnic Taiwanese in several articles that he published under his pseudonym, Fan Lan-chin (范蘭欽), during the time he served as an official at the now-defunct Government Information Office in Toronto, Canada.
The Control Yuan’s investigation into the case is ongoing.
Meanwhile, former New Party legislator Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大) on Thursday resigned as a senior specialist in the Taipei City Government’s secretariat, amid controversy that she was hired to help her meet her pension requirements.
“These cases obviously represent the [Ma] regime’s political rewards for those in the ‘inner circle,’ which disregards public opinion or candidates’ expertise, and instead reflects the long-standing phenomenon of the Ma administration’s ‘inbreeding,’” DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
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