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.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
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