The Control Yuan yesterday passed a motion to impeach nine naval officers involved in the July 2016 accidental firing of an anti-ship missile that hit a fishing boat, killing the captain and injuring three crew members.
The Control Yuan, the government branch in charge of investigating wrongdoing by officials and government agencies, held a similar review session in July last year after a motion was filed to impeach the nine officers, but the motion failed.
After 11 newly appointed members took office, the Control Yuan was able to call a new vote on the case, which can be done as long as there are nine members present and the nine voting are different from the members who voted on the motion the first time.
The Control Yuan impeached Lieutenant Commander Lin Po-tse (林伯澤) and his deputy, Lin Ching-chi (林清吉), of the navy’s Chinchiang-class corvette from where the missile was fired, along with Rear Admiral Hu Chih-cheng (胡志政), head of the navy’s 131st Fleet, and six others.
The firing of the missile, which is deemed to have resulted from human error, happened because of a failure to follow standard operating procedures.
Immediately following the incident in 2016, the Navy punished seven of the officers involved with demerits.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and