Lawmakers on the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday opposed the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ (MOTC) proposal to allow the board directors of state-run companies managed by the ministry to hold dual citizenship, adding that the ministry should hold a hearing on the issue first.
The committee was scheduled to review an amendment to the statutes governing the establishment of Chunghwa Post, Taoyuan International Airport Corp and Taiwan International Ports Corp, which stipulates that the board director positions in the state-run corporations can be assumed by foreigners or people holding dual citizenship.
However, foreigners or dual citizenship holders can hold no more than two seats on the boards of the state-run corporations.
The ministry said it proposed the amendment to boost the competitiveness of the corporations, adding that the state-run Taiwan Financial Holding Co has already enforced a similar proposal.
Despite the ministry’s assurance that no foreigner or dual citizenship holder would become the chairman or president of any of the firms, the proposal met strong opposition from lawmakers.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Pao-ching (鄭寶清) said that he does not have a problem with foreigners serving on the board of the state-run companies.
Foreigners might help the corporations keep ahead of the competition by looking at things from a different perspective, he said.
However, he opposed the proposal to allow people with dual citizenship to serve on the board, as the positions might be used to reward people with close ties to government officials.
DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said that Taiwan Financial Holding has been allowing foreigners and dual citizenship holders to serve on its board since 2008, adding that they can hold no more than two seats on the company’s board.
However, he said that the company has yet to employ a foreigner or a dual citizenship holder on the board.
Cheng Yun-peng said that the issue is being discussed at a bad time, because former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠), who holds both Taiwanese and US citizenships, is embroiled in an insider trading scandal at the bio-tech company OBI Pharma and has yet to return to Taiwan from the US to explain his role in the case.
“Wong was allowed to hold dual citizenship, because his academic achievements might one day qualify him to win a Noble Prize,” Cheng Yun-peng sad. “What can dual citizenship holders bring to the nation by serving as a board director in any one of these three state-run corporations? Many Taiwanese think that people holding dual citizenships only return to Taiwan to use the National Health Insurance program to save money on medical bills.”
DPP Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) said he found it strange that the base-level employees recruited by the companies must sign affidavits proving that they only have Taiwanese citizenship, but the companies want to allow their board directors to hold dual citizenship.
Former MOTC minister Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時), who pushed for the amendment during his term, said the new government would open senior management positions in the state-run companies for foreigners or professionals with dual citizenship.
“It would be difficult for the state-run corporations in Taiwan to recruit foreign nationals as board directors with the salaries they offer. However, at least we have the chance to hire foreign nationals who were born and raised in Taiwan. The Bank of England even hired a Canadian to be its governor, but we continue to employ the 20th-century concept about nationality, preventing brilliant minds from serving in government departments,” Yeh said.
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