An executive meeting of the General Association of Chinese Culture (GACC) set to review the membership of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday was called off amid speculation that the group was to elect a new president to prevent Tsai from assuming leadership of it.
The meeting to review the Tsai’s application and those of 624 other potential members was canceled due to lack of a quorum.
Association president Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), whose term expired yesterday, rejected accusations that the group was trying to deny membership to Tsai and the others, saying the review of membership applications was on the meeting’s agenda.
Photo: Wang Wen-lin, Taipei Times
Liu criticized 12 executive members who issued a joint statement on Sunday urging the association to convene the needed meetings for a leadership transition, because they were all absent yesterday.
The 12 members included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), the former legislative speaker; former United Microelectronics Corp chairman Robert Tsao (曹興誠); Fubon Financial Holdings chairman Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠); Shin Kong Financial Holding chairman Eugene Wu (吳東進) and Taiwan Cement Corp chairman Leslie Koo (辜成允).
Their statement said the association should complete the induction of new members in due course to facilitate a leadership transition without provoking unnecessary conflicts, amid rumors that the association’s 35-person executive committee wanted to elect a new president to prevent Tsai Ing-wen from succeeding Liu.
“I think it is apparent to everyone who caused the meeting to be aborted. I am confused and disappointed [by their action],” Liu said.
The nation’s president has traditionally led the GACC, which was established to help promote cultural affairs and bridge the gap between the president and cultural circles.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) broke with tradition by appointing Liu to head the association after the former premier left office in 2009.
There has been criticism, especially among the pan-green camp, over the association’s failing to members as they left, with some legislators calling it an attempt by the former KMT administration to privatize the GACC’s assets and to use it as a platform for cross-strait ties for its own purposes.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) told a news conference that the association, which was founded in 1967 with 70 percent of its founding capital raised from state-owned businesses, should be a public asset managed by the state, but Liu has been working the association to deny membership to Tsai Ing-wen and new members.
The delay in a leadership transition is an attempt to make the association a private body and the association assets, which are worth NT$1.9 billion (US$59.6 million), private property, Wu said.
However, Liu yesterday reiterated that the association is a private organization and its is only subject to the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法) and related regulations, while its assets are private property.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry
RSS