Lawmakers yesterday demanded that high-ranking officials in charge of China Airlines step down after Saturday's fatal crash to enable a comprehensive reform of the nation's oldest airline.
Among others, Tsay Jaw-yang (蔡兆陽), the chairman of the China Aviation Development Foundation (CADF, 航發會), which is the largest shareholder in the company, and Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA, 民航局) Director-General Chang Kuo-cheng (張國政) are facing the most pressing calls to resign.
DPP lawmaker Chen Chong-yi (
PHOTO: SUNG CHIH-SHIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
According to Chen, faculty of the airline's supervisory units, such as the CAA and Aviation Safety Council (ASC,
"It is impossible for the overseeing departments to thoroughly carry out their tasks because they are all friends with each other. In order to allow self-examination, Tsay should step down to take the blame," he said.
Echoing Chen's view, several PFP and KMT lawmakers expressed their discontent to Tsay, saying he had long been a target of critics in the legislature for his arrogant manner. They threatened to launch a motion today to ask Tsay to resign.
In addition, DPP lawmakers Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) and Wang Tuoh (王拓) directed their attacks at Chang. They maintained that, even though Chang had assumed his current post only a month ago, for the past 10 years Chang served as the CAA's deputy general director.
"Chang should be blamed because it is known that with a military background, he was in full control of the office's personnel, almost all of whom hail from the army," Tsai said.
"It is out of the question that the CAA can fulfill its duty as a supervisor given that people from the CAA and China Airlines are old-time pals."
On Tuesday, lawmakers also demanded the resignation of the Vice Transportation Minister Tsai Duei (
Tsay and Tsai resigned from their posts as transportation minister and chief of the CAA, respectively, following the airline's 1994 crash, which killed 264 people.
It his first press conference since Saturday's tragedy, Tsay said yesterday that it was not an opportune time to discuss who should resign because "the cause of the incident is still being investigated."
Responding to Premier Yu Shyi-kun's comments on Tuesday when he urged the privatization of the airline, Tsay said "the company is already privately owned."
A quasi-governmental organization, the CADF has a 71 percent stake in the former state-run carrier. Many of the foundation's board members are retired government or military officials. They manage about NT$50 billion (US$1.45 billion) in assets.
Tsay said the CADF should not be considered an official organization because it is "a privately owned corporate body."
A series of discussions on the legacy of martial law and authoritarianism are to be held at the Taipei International Book Exhibition this month, featuring findings and analysis by the Transitional Justice Commission. The commission and publisher Book Republic organized the series, entitled “Escaping the Nation’s Labyrinth of Memory: What Authoritarian Symbols and Records Can Tell Us,” to help people navigate narratives through textual analysis and comparisons with other nations. The four-day series is to begin on Thursday next week with a discussion between commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠), Polish-language translator Lin Wei-yun (林蔚昀), and Polish author and artist Pawel Gorecki comparing
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