Minister of Transportation and Communications Kuo Yao-chi (
"A minister should be held accountable for policy and should be willing to bear any humiliation and criticism from the public -- this is beyond question," Kuo said. "However, when she realizes that it is difficult to promote her own agenda within the administration and her ideas are in conflict with those of her superiors, it is time to decide whether to stay or to leave."
"The best test of character is when one seeks nothing," she added. "And one's burden is lightest when one is not holding any position."
PHOTO: HSU MIN-JUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Kuo said she had already tendered her resignation to Premier Su Tseng-chang (
In response, Su said yesterday that Kuo was not to blame for the ETC debacle, and that he would do everything he could to convince her to stay.
Kuo's position would be temporarily filled by Vice Minister of Transportation and Communications Tsai Duei (
Tsai said that Kuo informed her three vice ministers and secretary- general about her decision to resign at a luncheon yesterday, adding that Kuo did not give reasons for her sudden decision to leave.
Tsai, however, said that the decision might be related to controversies surrounding the highway electronic toll collection (ETC) system.
Tsai said he also had turned in his resignation to Kuo, but added that he hoped the Cabinet would be able to deal with the matter in a satisfactory manner and that Kuo would change her mind about resigning.
"The minister has been committed to every task since she assumed the position -- from the ETC system to the launch of the Chiang Wei-shui Freeway and [preparing for] the official opening of the High Speed Railway in October," he said.
Independent Legislator Yang Chung-tse (
"The contracts and all the decisions relating to the ETC were determined and approved by prior ministers," he said, "The current minister should do everything she can to clean up the mess."
Meanwhile, the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau yesterday announced possible solutions to the problems besetting the ETC system.
The bureau's secretary-general, Hsieh Shien-tsung (
Hsieh said that the bureau would attempt to rectify the situation by conducting another review process. However, it would first have to find members who used to serve on the review board, he said.
According to Hsieh, only one member is willing to return to the board; the others have declined the invitation.
Hsieh added that the bureau was entitled to select new members for the review board based on the Government Procurement Act (
If the review board could be successfully reconvened, all three contractors bidding for the project -- Acer, Taiwan Yu-Tung and Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection -- would be re-evaluated once again. Far Eastern might win by qualification but the lawsuits filed against the company could disqualify its role in the project once again.
If the review board could not be reconvened, he said, the bureau could opt to open the bid to new contractors or form special negotiation task force.
The task force would bring together the three contractors and see if any one of them was willing to take over.
Hsieh added, however, the latter option would have to be approved by the Public Construction Commission, the administrative authority that supervises public construction projects and determines whether each has followed the regulations stated in the Government Procurement Act.
Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co yesterday conveyed its appreciation for Kuo's contribution and hard work toward helping push through the nation's first freeway ETC system.
The company will continue to cooperate with the ministry no matter who takes over the ministerial post, said company spokeswoman Lang Ya-ling (
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JACKIE LIN
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
STANDING TOGETHER: Amid China’s increasingly aggressive activities, nations must join forces in detecting and dealing with incursions, a Taiwanese official said Two senior Philippine officials and one former official yesterday attended the Taiwan International Ocean Forum in Taipei, the first high-level visit since the Philippines in April lifted a ban on such travel to Taiwan. The Ocean Affairs Council hosted the two-day event at the National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center. Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Coast Guard spokesman Grand Commodore Jay Tarriela and former Philippine Presidential Communications Office assistant secretary Michel del Rosario participated in the forum. More than 100 officials, experts and entrepreneurs from 15 nations participated in the forum, which included discussions on countering China’s hybrid warfare
MORE DEMOCRACY: The only solution to Taiwan’s current democratic issues involves more democracy, including Constitutional Court rulings and citizens exercising their civil rights , Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is not the “motherland” of the Republic of China (ROC) and has never owned Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. The speech was the third in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to deliver across Taiwan. Taiwan is facing external threats from China, Lai said at a Lions Clubs International banquet in Hsinchu. For example, on June 21 the army detected 12 Chinese aircraft, eight of which entered Taiwanese waters, as well as six Chinese warships that remained in the waters around Taiwan, he said. Beyond military and political intimidation, Taiwan
RSS