Worrying that the government will use the Cabinet's extensive advertsing budget to promote President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in the run-up to next year's presidential election, the KMT legislative caucus has vowed to cut off the promotion budgets of state-run-enterprises.
At a press conference yesterday, KMT lawmakers condemned the Cabinet's new practice of combining all departmental promotional budgets to undertake a single annual bulk purchase of media advertising spots. The legislators said they refused to accept the Cabinet's explanation that the old practice -- each department buying its own advertising -- was inefficient
After officials from the Government Information Office and the Cabinet's Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (
The KMT legislative caucus says it will cut off NT $18 billion from state-run Chunghwa Telecom, the Chinese Petroleum Corporation and the Taiwan Power Company (Taipower), as well as from the Department of Health and the Bureau of National Health Insurance.
According the proposal, 50 percent of the advertising budgets for both China Telecom and the Chinese Petroleum Corporation would be cut off. Taipower would lose 60 percent.
The Department of Health and the Bureau of national Health Insurance's promotional budget, NT$ 448 million, would be completely cut off. The KMT said that the department no longer needs that kind of money.
DPP legislators condemned the move.
"It's unfair that even the China Telecom's budget to promote its cell phone service is counted as president Chen's campaign budget," said DPP legislative whip Chen Chi-mai (
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
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