The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday proposed a draft “nonprofit corporation act” aimed at tightening oversight of government-funded corporations.
While the development of nonprofit corporations that are partially funded by the government has been on the rise, there are few laws regulating such entities, leading to the privatization of many, which results in public assets becoming private property, NPP Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said.
“Corporations that derive more than 50 percent of their funding from the government have to be supervised by the Legislative Yuan, but many corporations have escaped government oversight by lowering the amount of government funding,” Hsu said.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
“Some government-funded corporations were transformed into private companies, and government funds became company assets at taxpayers’ expense,” he said.
The draft act would allow the government to increase its holding in a public-turned-private corporation to restore it to a public corporation, Hsu said, citing the privatization of the CTCI Foundation, which was founded by state-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) and Taiwan Sugar Corp in 1959, but later shed government control by diluting its share of state funding.
A corporation over which the government has de facto control is recognized as a public entity answerable to the government even if government funding is less than 50 percent of the firm’s budget, according the draft act, Hsu said.
Examples include the Institute for Information Industry, the Commerce Development Research Institute, the Printing Technology Research Institute and the Taiwan Design Center, he said.
“The draft act would also prohibit sinecure appointment by temporarily stripping the pensions of retired government officials who work for public corporations,” Hsu said.
The party also raised a motion to order Taipower to report to the Legislative Yuan before a reactor of the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City is reactivated.
The plant’s No. 2 reactor automatically shut down after a generator disconnection on May 16 for reasons that are not yet clear.
Parts of the power generation system were destroyed in the incident.
“I saw three surge arresters that were completely burned out, while other facilities were damaged by what appeared to be a blast,” NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said. “Taipower has not yet clarified the cause of the generator disconnection or the blast, so we ask the company to make a formal report to the legislature before the Atomic Energy Council will approve reactivation.”
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS