Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu’s temporary leave of absence from his post as New Taipei City mayor conforms to all relevant regulations, Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Minister Frank Huang (黃富源) said yesterday.
“Every citizen is constitutionally entitled to participate in elections,” Huang said on the sidelines of a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
“Chu has applied for a leave of absence from Tuesday until the end of December in accordance with the Public Servants’ Administrative Neutrality Act (公務人員行政中立法) and the Regulations on Civil Servants’ Applications for Leave (公務人員請假規則),” he said.
Huang made the remarks as the legality of Chu’s leave of absence has been called into question, prompting some netizens to urge young people to set their sights on becoming a mayor, as it is the only job in the nation that allows an extended holiday as long as three months.
According to Article 11 of the Public Servants’ Administrative Neutrality Act, civil servants registered as a candidate for a public office must take a leave of absence between the day of their candidacy registration and the polling day.
Their supervisors cannot reject such a request.
Under the Regulations on Civil Servants’ Applications for Leave, public servants with 14 years of seniority or longer are rewarded with 30 days of annual leave per year.
Any unused annual leave can be retained for a maximum of two years.
The Chinese-language newspaper Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) has estimated that Chu, who has been a public servant for 23 years, will have 44.5 and 30 days of annual leave available for this and next year respectively, but he would need 89 days off if he wishes to campaign all the way to the election on Jan. 16.
Asked what the maximum amount of leave was that Chu could take without resigning, Huang did not give a direct answer, saying only that the days the mayor has requested off were all compliant with the law.
Huang said there had been similar cases like that of Chu in the past and that such information was accessible to the public.
LOW RISK: Most nations do not extradite people accused of political crimes, and the UN says extradition can only happen if the act is a crime in both countries, an official said China yesterday issued wanted notices for two Taiwanese influencers, accusing them of committing “separatist acts” by criticizing Beijing, amid broadening concerns over China’s state-directed transnational repression. The Quanzhou Public Security Bureau in a notice posted online said police are offering a reward of up to 25,000 yuan (US$3,523) for information that could contribute to the investigation or apprehension of pro-Taiwanese independence YouTuber Wen Tzu-yu (溫子渝),who is known as Pa Chiung (八炯) online, and rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源). Wen and Chen are suspected of spreading content that supported secession from China, slandered Chinese policies that benefit Taiwanese and discrimination against Chinese spouses of
PROMOTION: Travelers who want a free stopover must book their flights with designated travel agents, such as Lion Travel, Holiday Tours, Cola Tour and Life Tours Air Canada yesterday said it is offering Taiwanese travelers who are headed to North America free stopovers if they transit though airports in Japan and South Korea. The promotion was launched in response to a potential rise in demand for flights to North America in June and July next year, when the US, Canada and Mexico are scheduled to jointly host the FIFA World Cup, Air Canada said. Air Canada offers services to 13 of the 16 host cities of the tournament’s soccer games, including Toronto and Vancouver; Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston; Dallas; Houston;
The US approved the possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet spare and repair parts for US$330 million, the Pentagon said late yesterday, marking the first such potential transaction since US President Donald Trump took office in January. "The proposed sale will improve the recipient's capability to meet current and future threats by maintaining the operational readiness of the recipient's fleet of F-16, C-130," and other aircraft, the Pentagon said in a statement. Trump previously said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has told him he would not invade Taiwan while the Republican leader is in office. The announcement of the possible arms
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
RSS