Opposition legislators at a review session gave a hard time to Control Yuan member nominees, many of whom have been branded by the opposition as being President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “cohorts,” who garnered the nominations as political rewards.
Thirteen nominees of the total 27 (excluding the presidential and vice-presidential nominees vetted on Tuesday), were questioned by the legislature yesterday, the second day of the three-day vetting process before the final vote tomorrow.
The nominees have been cautious while fielding questions shot by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, who either asked for the nominees’ opinions on recent controversial political events or raised doubts over their past actions.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
Four of the 13 would be serving their second terms if their nominations are approved. They parried questions by DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) over whether they would initiate investigations into whether National Security Council Secretary-General King Pu-tsung’s (金溥聰) had overreached his authority by visiting intelligence agencies over which the council has no administrative power.
“No judgement should be made before a case is actually reviewed,” former judge Gau Fehng-shian (高鳳仙) said.
Current member and nominee Yang Mei-ling (楊美玲) seconded Gau’s view and added that leaving the investigation to the members who are on investigative duties could avoid unwanted political speculation.
You also reminded Gau, a member of an anti-gay-marriage alliance, of the significance of human rights, including gay people’s right to marry.
DPP Legislator Tsai Chih-chang (蔡其昌) said that many of the nominees refused to answer questions listed in a questionnaire handed out by the DPP before the review session, including one that asked whether an advisory unit’s chief should be investigated if they overreach their authority.
“The question did not mention King Pu-tsung by name, but no one even dared to put down a ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ You’re all under King’s shadow,” Tsai said.
Both You and DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) accused Yu Teng-fang (余騰芳), whose rise in public office many attribute to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), of being under Ma’s sway and being deliberately absent during the vote to impeach former prosecutor-general Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘).
Chiu said it was rumored Yu Teng-fang had told his friends that he would now side with Ma, as Wang is on the brink of falling, and that Yu was one of two nominees who had been voted out by the Presidential Office’s review group, but “recycled” by Ma.
Yu Teng-fang denied he had made those remarks about Wang and said he was absent on the vote “to recuse himself from the case,” an explanation Yu Mei-nu dismissed because Yu Teng-fang has no relationship with Huang.
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