Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday decided to complete the process of staffing the National Communication Commission (NCC) and the commission will be officially launched on Monday, with parts of the Government Information Office's (GIO) duties being transferred to the new group.
"Originally, we were going to wait for the Council of Grand Justices' decision on whether to temporarily freeze the enforcement of the Organic Law of the National Communications Commission (
Respect for the legislature was one of the main reasons as the nomination of the 12 commission members was originally carried out by lawmakers, Cheng said.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The commission will be ready for its official launch on Monday, since the Cabinet has already finished the process of staffing it.
Although all 12 members were officially brought on board yesterday, three vacancies became available immediately after three of the designated members had offered their resignations. As of press time yesterday, Cheng said Su had yet to decide what to do regarding the three vacancies.
Minister without Portfolio Hsu Chih-hsiung (
"Among the 15 grand justices, it requires two thirds of them to agree on an issue to get a favorable decision," Hsu said.
"Say, we need 10 votes to uphold an issue. However, we cannot make it happen if we only have nine votes," he said.
Hsu said the Cabinet had been postponing the completion of the staffing process for the NCC because it was waiting for the council's decision, since in the past the grand justices usually made their decisions very quickly.
"Although there is no decision from the grand justices up till now, it does not necessarily mean that they will not make a decision in the near future," he said.
The GIO will not be officially disbanded until the legislature approves the Organic Law of the Executive Yuan (行政院組織法).
The appointment of the NCC members was hailed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP), who had threatened to boycott Su's administrative report to the legislature, scheduled for next Tuesday.
"After [yesterday's] appointments, Su's administrative report will go smoothly," KMT caucus whip Tsai Chin-lung (
The Executive Yuan sent Su's report to the legislature yesterday.
"We were happy to see that Su took our advice. [The appointment] was something that the government should have done much earlier as they should abide by the rule of law," PFP Legislator Lin Hui-kuan (
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus whip David Huang (黃適卓), however, said the TSU was sorry that the government had caved in to the opposition.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS