Following a press conference yesterday by former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) responding to allegations that he leaked national secrets to China, most politicians and political parties have responded by either being critical of the government’s handling of the case or showing sympathy to the former deputy minister.
“If the government suspects that Chang is involved in leaking classified information [to China], it should first launch a probe, then make a formal announcement after getting some concrete evidence, instead of releasing information now when nothing is clear yet,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) said yesterday. “Upset about the accusation, Chang repeatedly strikes back, and the government counterstrikes with more accusations — this is only causing harm to the government itself.”
“After all, Chang was appointed by the president — shouldn’t the president also share some responsibility as well?” he added.
The People First Party (PFP), with which Chang was affiliated from 2000 to 2012, also lashed out at the government with a press statement, asking the government to stop making groundless accusations without concrete evidence.
“[Government officials] accuse Chang of leaking classified information and spying, which is the same as accusing the Chinese government of buying off a negotiator from our side and spying, and this is a serious humiliation to the other side in a negotiation,” the statement said. “It causes severe harm to cross-strait relations, as well as mutual trust and mutual respect.”
The statement then called on the government to stop making accusations, and panned it for making such accusations before starting an official investigation.
PFP Deputy Secretary-General Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) panned the government for “acting like the mafia.”
“Some people in the MAC may not like Chang because of his performance and try to get rid of him,” Liu said. “However, this is not the way that you should treat a government official appointed by the president — only the mafia would wipe someone out like this.”
Liu warned that the way the government handles the issue could break the mutual trust between Taiwan and China, and could make the public doubtful about cross-strait agreements signed in the past.
While saying that he would trust the judiciary to take care of the dispute, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chi Kuo-tung (紀國棟) said he is also worried that the problem may increase public distrust of past cross-strait agreements.
However, another KMT Legislator, Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾), said it was inappropriate for MAC Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) to ask Chang to resign before speaking to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), “because Chang was appointed by the president.”
“Moreover, how could Wang try to arrange another job for Chang if he is really a spy?” Lo asked.
DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), on the other hand, called on the government to suspend all ongoing cross-strait negotiations immediately.
“The government promised us that cross-strait talks could be halted if there are national security concerns,” Yu said. “Well, it’s time for the ‘brake’ mechanism to come in as one of the top negotiators now is suspected of being a spy for China.”
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
RSS