To quickly end the row between two of his vice ministers over a raging school finance scandal, Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng (
"I will make a decision in one or two days," Tzeng said in response to a question posed by KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun (
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
On Monday, vice education ministers Lin Chao-hsien (林昭賢) and Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠) engaged in a war or words after Fan publicly insinuated that Lin was involved in the financial scandal surrounding the private Jin-Wen Institute of Technology (景文技術學院).
The two publicly attacked each other, with Lin criticizing Fan as "a layman leading a group of professionals [who] has failed to win the hearts of the staff in the ministry because of her bossiness."
Lin also compared her relationship with Tzeng to a couple who "appear united outwardly but are divided in their hearts."
Striking back, Fan criticized Lin for failing to avoid involvement with special interest groups.
Since the incident erupted, there has been speculation that Lin will be replaced and David Lee (
Facing an interrogation by lawmakers, Tzeng declined to respond directly as to how he will handle the matter.
"The issue will be taken care of cautiously because it is important to maintain a good team in the ministry ... I will make a final decision in one or two days," said the minister, while dismissing the rumors that he had any candidate in mind to replace Lin.
Lin has been on leave since the incident occurred.
Fan, the other party to the feud, was present at the legislative meeting yesterday and faced a volley of questions from lawmakers, who asked if she was indeed as her colleague had described.
"Everyone in the ministry knows there are two ministers in the ministry, one is Tzeng -- who only has a nominal title, the other is the autocratic vice minister Fan," said New Party lawmaker Chang Shih-liang (
Chang also quoted allegations in the letter that contend Fan's husband interferes in the ministry's affairs: "To [help her] realize her ambition to climb to the minister's position, Fan's husband is seen frequently to intervene in the ministry's affairs."
Fan refuted the letter's allegations and said it was meant to blacken her reputation.
She added that she welcomes any investigation into her conduct if lawmakers consider it necessary.
Fan said that she is known for her devotion and hard work, but called herself "an amateur" when it comes to coping with bureaucracy.
She said it could be this inexperience that prompts people to criticize her job performance.
Meanwhile, Tzeng described his relationship with Fan as one which may not appear united on the outside, but was not divided on the inside, because despite having different management styles, they both share common beliefs.
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
EMERGING FIELDS: The Chinese president said that the two countries would explore cooperation in green technology, the digital economy and artificial intelligence Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday called for an “equal and orderly multipolar world” in the face of “unilateral bullying,” in an apparent jab at the US. Xi was speaking during talks in Beijing with Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi, the first South American leader to visit China since US special forces captured then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last month — an operation that Beijing condemned as a violation of sovereignty. Orsi follows a slew of leaders to have visited China seeking to boost ties with the world’s second-largest economy to hedge against US President Donald Trump’s increasingly unpredictable administration. “The international situation is fraught
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
GROWING AMBITIONS: The scale and tempo of the operations show that the Strait has become the core theater for China to expand its security interests, the report said Chinese military aircraft incursions around Taiwan have surged nearly 15-fold over the past five years, according to a report released yesterday by the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Department of China Affairs. Sorties in the Taiwan Strait were previously irregular, totaling 380 in 2020, but have since evolved into routine operations, the report showed. “This demonstrates that the Taiwan Strait has become both the starting point and testing ground for Beijing’s expansionist ambitions,” it said. Driven by military expansionism, China is systematically pursuing actions aimed at altering the regional “status quo,” the department said, adding that Taiwan represents the most critical link in China’s
RSS