The appointment of National Immigration Agency Director-General Mo Tien-hu (莫天虎), who has an intelligence background, to the position of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) secretary-general has set some tongues wagging.
The KMT’s Central Standing Committee approved the appointment on Wednesday. Mo, who has applied for retirement, is slated to take over the position with the KMT on Monday.
Mo has worked at the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau as director of the Taipei City Field Office Shihlin Station, Hualien County Station and Tainan City Station, the deputy director of the bureau’s Domestic Security Field Office, deputy director of the Kaohsiung City Field Office, director of the Tainan City Field Office and director of the Domestic Security Field Office.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
In a goodbye statement issued to his colleagues on Wednesday, Mo said the new role is expected to be “full of difficulties and challenges, which would amount to jumping into a fire pit.”
However, fawning over the powerful is not his thing, he said.
“Offering help when someone is in trouble is what I love doing. I always believe that achievements can only be made with a bit of foolish gung-ho, which I have,” Mo said.
A dedicated Christian, Mo said, “facing an unknowable future, I will give it all to God.”
The appointment surprised the media, KMT members and lawmakers, who said they are unfamiliar with Mo, who has never worked in the party system, and are therefore skeptical about his ability to coordinate the party and the caucus.
KMT committee member Yao Chiang-lin (姚江臨) said it is within the chairperson’s authority to make personnel appointments, but based on experience, it does not work well if the party secretary-general is someone who had no direct experience of working with the party.
KMT caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福), who doubles as the party’s deputy secretary-general, said although Mo had worked mostly with investigative units, he could facilitate communications with the party lawmakers by interacting with them more.
However, some joked that Mo’s intelligence background would probably make lawmakers and committee members nervous.
KMT spokeswoman Wang Hong-wei (王鴻薇) yesterday said party members are all in the same boat and should not criticize the party.
Media personality Clara Chou (周玉蔻) on Wednesday wrote on Facebook that the appointment reminded her of the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) era, during which intelligence officials were also party heavyweights greatly depended upon by Chiang.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that while society still fears intelligence is being used for political purposes, Hung’s appointment of an intelligence official to KMT secretary-general is reconnecting the intelligence system to the party.
“This is [democratic] regression,” he said.
DPP Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) said Mo’s appointment was a surprise to him, but added that with Mo’s background, he could be expected to conduct a thorough examination of the KMT’s assets, which some suspect might have been embezzled by private individuals.
Former Deputy Legislative Speakers’ Office director Chiao Cheng-chung (喬正中), who has been one of Hung’s aides for almost 20 years, had also worked as an agent with the investigation bureau.
Chen Hang-sheng (陳杭升), who was appointed early last month by Hung to serve as the head of the KMT’s Administration and Management Committee, also has an intelligence background.
The appointment has spawned some discussion within the party as to whether Hung is to rely on Chen’s expertise to discipline the party.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
RSS