Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Wei Kuo-yen (魏國彥), who on Wednesday tendered his resignation over an oil spill incident, was hospitalized yesterday after suffering from a heart condition during a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Shortly after a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee began, Wei started experiencing chest tightness and the condition persisted after he took medication, so he went to the Legislative Yuan’s infirmary, National Taiwan University Hospital said.
Wei showed abnormal electrocardiogram readings and was diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome and suspected acute myocardial infarction, and was immediately transported to the hospital.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The hospital said that Wei had a history of heart disease and was conscious upon arriving at the hospital, adding that he was taken to the intensive care unit for suspected acute coronary syndrome.
A cardiac catheterization was performed in the afternoon, and it would take a few days for Wei to recover, the EPA said.
According to EPA staff, Wei has been working overtime lately because of two ships running aground in Penghu County and New Taipei City’s Shimen District (石門), which resulted in an oil spill and sparked criticism of the EPA’s handling of the incidents.
Wei on Wednesday tendered his resignation after a legislative hearing, in which Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) criticized the EPA’s management of the grounded container ship off Shimen, as the oil leaking from the vessel polluted the coastline.
Wei said he was resigning to take responsibility for the pollution, rather than acting on impulse, but added that he would continue to attend legislative sessions until the premier accepts his resignation.
“As the legislature has lost confidence in the EPA’s capabilities, I have no reason to stay at the position; I am stepping down to shoulder political responsibility,” he said.
Premier Simon Chang (張善政) yesterday visited Wei at the hospital, saying that he would not accept Wei’s resignation since the minister has duly performed his duty over the grounding incidents.
Meanwhile, the EPA’s Department of Water Quality director Yeh Chun-hung (葉俊宏) said that crews have removed two-thirds of the diesel and crude oil on the container ship, and the pumping operation is expected to be finished today at the earliest.
Lubricating oils remaining on the ship would be drained later, while there is no sign that hazardous chemicals stored in nine containers on the ship would leak, Yeh said.
The Minister of Transportation and Communications said it requested the ship owner to remove all 385 containers from the ship before the flood season.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS