Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
In addition to the premier, six high-ranking officials from executive organizations will also be requested to meet with members of the Control Yuan to detail how and why the contentious decision was reached.
The series of interviews began with Taiwan Power Company (Taipower, 台電) Chairman Hsi Shi-chi (席時濟), Taipower President Kuo Chun-hui (郭俊惠), and Atomic Energy Council Chairman Hsia Der-yu (夏德鈺). Yesterday the Control Yuan's five-member panel listened to reports given by Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) and Chen Chao-yih (陳昭義), secretary-general of the Energy Commission. Tomorrow, the panel will meet with Auditor-General of the Ministry of Audit, Su Chen-ping (蘇振平).
"Given that these units -- Taipower, the Atomic Energy Council and the Ministry of Economic Affairs -- could only offer advice regarding the pros and cons of the matter, the final decision still rested with the executive branch, and for this reason, it is necessary for the premier to undergo questioning," said panel member Huang Chin-jenn (黃勤鎮), adding that they have decided to issue their notice to Chang after the Chinese New Year vacation.
Concerning Monday's ruling by the Council of Grand Justices that the decision-making process behind the scrapping of the plant was flawed, Huang said that, "The verdict reached by the council will be one of the key references for our investigation."
He added that their investigation would center on whether the Executive Yuan's decision-making process was illegal or involved malpractice.
"There should be a set of appropriate administrative procedures to be followed when an important policy is to be changed," Huang said.
Panel member Chang Teh-ming (張德銘) said that cases considered to be flawed in the policymaking procedure were regarded as involving the greatest degree of wrongdoing. "It is too early to jump to any conclusion about what their final decision will be," he added.
The panel declined to comment after meeting Lin yesterday on the grounds that the investigation was incomplete, only saying they had tried to understand the causes behind the policy U-turn made by the ministry.
The Control Yuan may propose corrective action to government departments and take punitive action against public functionaries, including impeachment in the case of the most serious violations of the law or neglect of duties, and censure in less serious cases.
The decision made by the Executive Yuan on Oct. 27 to halt construction of the plant outraged the opposition because the plant had been approved by the previous KMT-led government. The opposition attacked the decision, saying that the executive branch had not shown any respect for a bill that had been passed in the legislature, and therefore appealed to the Control Yuan to penalize the officials involved in the matter.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS