The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), which has been left with only ceremonial functions after cross-strait negotiations were institutionalized and transferred to government agencies, is allocating more money for personnel than the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center has found in its latest report.
It called for an examination of the foundation’s functions to avoid government overlaps.
Its report showed that with the cross-strait negotiation mechanism having been established over recent years and the main role in negotiations transferred to the council and other government agencies, the SEF no longer has a substantial role in cross-strait negotiations.
However, the report found that the planned spending for personnel in the foundation’s NT$308 million (US$10.13 million) budget for next year has increased from NT$133.25 million last year and NT$152.61 million this year to NT$153.95 million next year — a 15.54 percent increase and a 0.88 percent increase respectively.
Average personnel spending for the foundation’s 113 workers next year is to be NT$1.362 million per person per year, which beats the NT$1.315 million of the MAC, the agency that supervises the SEF and has planned to allot NT$383.91 million for its 292 workers.
The foundation’s average salary is higher than that of the council, to which the Budget Center advised a re-deliberation.
For instance, SEF Chairman Lin Join-sane (林中森) is paid a monthly wage as high as NT$247,000, which tops the NT$190,000 for an appointed head at any other ministry or department; the SEF also pays more than NT$100,000 to several of its directors, the report showed.
The center said it is unreasonable that SEF workers, who are not hired via national exams, are paid more than civil servants.
In recent years, the council’s subsidy has come to account for more than 60 percent of the foundation’s annual income, the report found.
The council’s NT$196 million subsidy for the foundation next year, for example, accounts for 67.69 percent of the SEF’s annual income; the SEF’s planned personnel expenditures of NT$153.95 million take up as much as 78.53 percent of such official support.
The center questioned the spending and said that excessive personnel expenditures would crowd out the operation of cross-strait business and be counterproductive.
When reached for comment, SEF spokesperson Ma Shaw-chang (馬紹章) said the SEF plays an important role in developing cross-strait relations, which involve various negotiations and arrangements.
The foundation is still irreplaceable, he said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS