The Control Yuan, which has been described as an “appendix” to the government, is about to be reshuffled, as its current members are set to finish their term at the end of this month, following longstanding criticism of their poor performance.
Considering that these officials cost taxpayers almost NT$1 billion (US$33.3 million) a year, they should at least do a positive thing before their term ends. If they impeach Minister Without Portfolio Lin Jung-tzer (林政則), who oversees the Taiwan Provincial Government and may be guilty of abusing his authority and subverting order within the civil service, perhaps they could alleviate some of the public dissatisfaction and anger toward them.
Former Government Information Office official Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英) — who referred to himself as a “high-class Chinese Mainlander” in a series of online political commentaries written under the pseudonym Fan Lan-chin (范蘭欽) in 2009 — claimed that the Martial Law era was a form of “good governance” and made a lot of inflammatory, racist remarks by referring to Taiwan as a “ghost island” and Taiwanese as “country bumpkins,” “mongrels” and “descendants of Japanese pirates” that needed constant oppression.
These remarks serve to show that Kuo is a narrow-minded, shameless racist.
Three years after being dismissed from his post, Kuo managed to worm his way into a job at the Nantou County-based office of the downsized Taiwan Provincial Government, where he wasted no time in applying for pension benefits that would grant him a monthly pension of between NT$60,000 and NT$70,000.
Putting aside Kuo’s shameless nature, there is no doubt that Lin, who oversaw Kuo’s appointment as well as whoever is hiding in the shadows behind must be held to account.
Lin could be guilty of three crimes.
The first is abuse of official power. In an unprecedented move, Lin hired Kuo, who had almost reached retirement age, to help him gain access to retirement funds he would not have otherwise been entitled to, and which would cause an estimated loss of at least NT$10 million to the national treasury.
The second is violating procedures for personnel recruitment by deliberately leaving out an interview in hiring Kuo that should have been part of the employment process, presumably to cover up his actions as well as his being on the verge of retirement.
And third is abusing his discretionary powers by increasing the weighting of his opinion in the evaluation of Kuo to 50 percent, when the standard weighting is below 40, and then giving Kuo an unfair advantage by giving him a score of 48 points, guaranteeing that Kuo would score the position.
The actions taken by Lin to benefit Kuo were not only done on the taxpayer’s dime, they also showed how this high-ranking official paid no regard at all to national laws or public sentiment. Lin was a legislator and a popularly elected mayor. It is very hard to believe that a Taiwanese politician could ever get involved with someone who has insulted ethnic Taiwanese like Kuo did.
Lin must have somebody behind him and that somebody is certain to also be exposed.
The public can only hope that members of the Control Yuan find their conscience and earnestly face the public’s call: Lin’s case cannot be allowed to be resolved by mere disciplinary action, he must be impeached to alleviate public anger.
Prosecutors should also launch an investigation and find Lin’s accomplices so as to give the public a proper answer.
Ling Po-chih is a former head of the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office.
Translated by Drew Cameron
In the US’ National Security Strategy (NSS) report released last month, US President Donald Trump offered his interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. The “Trump Corollary,” presented on page 15, is a distinctly aggressive rebranding of the more than 200-year-old foreign policy position. Beyond reasserting the sovereignty of the western hemisphere against foreign intervention, the document centers on energy and strategic assets, and attempts to redraw the map of the geopolitical landscape more broadly. It is clear that Trump no longer sees the western hemisphere as a peaceful backyard, but rather as the frontier of a new Cold War. In particular,
When it became clear that the world was entering a new era with a radical change in the US’ global stance in US President Donald Trump’s second term, many in Taiwan were concerned about what this meant for the nation’s defense against China. Instability and disruption are dangerous. Chaos introduces unknowns. There was a sense that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) might have a point with its tendency not to trust the US. The world order is certainly changing, but concerns about the implications for Taiwan of this disruption left many blind to how the same forces might also weaken
As the new year dawns, Taiwan faces a range of external uncertainties that could impact the safety and prosperity of its people and reverberate in its politics. Here are a few key questions that could spill over into Taiwan in the year ahead. WILL THE AI BUBBLE POP? The global AI boom supported Taiwan’s significant economic expansion in 2025. Taiwan’s economy grew over 7 percent and set records for exports, imports, and trade surplus. There is a brewing debate among investors about whether the AI boom will carry forward into 2026. Skeptics warn that AI-led global equity markets are overvalued and overleveraged
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Monday announced that she would dissolve parliament on Friday. Although the snap election on Feb. 8 might appear to be a domestic affair, it would have real implications for Taiwan and regional security. Whether the Takaichi-led coalition can advance a stronger security policy lies in not just gaining enough seats in parliament to pass legislation, but also in a public mandate to push forward reforms to upgrade the Japanese military. As one of Taiwan’s closest neighbors, a boost in Japan’s defense capabilities would serve as a strong deterrent to China in acting unilaterally in the
RSS