There were repercussions yesterday from the unexpected resignation of Minister of Transportation and Communications Kuo Yao-chi (
The Chinese-language United Evening News reported that the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau Director-General Yang Hsi-an (
"Unless it has been proven that I am incompetent in handling the situation and that I cannot reach the same understandings as my superiors, then I would not consider leaving," he said
Yang, who previously served on the Public Construction Commission, just took up the freeway bureau job last month.
Vice Minister Tsai Duei (
Meanwhile, there was widespread media speculation that Kuo's decision to leave after a little more than six months on the job was due to differences with Premier Su Tseng-chang (
According to a United Daily News report, Kuo thought the ETC system should be run by Chunghwa Telecom, while Su has ordered that Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co continue operation.
Since Kuo is seen as one of President Chen Shui-bian's (
Government Information Office Minister and Cabinet Spokesperson Cheng Wen-tsang (
He also said that "an administrative team is an administrative team and favoritism has nothing to do with it."
The premier has never asked Far Eastern to continue operating the ETC system, either in private or publicly, Cheng said.
"The issues related to the ETC should be negotiated and evaluated according to the verdict issued by the Supreme Administrative Court," Cheng said. "No company has any advantage."
Tsai stressed that Kuo and Su shared the same goals and views on the ETC system.
The ministry gave an update yesterday on its handling of the system. It has been trying to negotiate with the three contractors who bid initially on the project to see if they want to try again.
The ETC system will be jointly operated by Chunghwa Telecom and Far Eastern for now.
The Cabinet announced yesterday that it would respect the court's decision on the ETC system.
"We will ask the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to renegotiate and select a new partner. If this does not work, we will then take care of this case by following Article 53 of the Statute for the Encouragement of Private Sector Participation in Public Infrastructure Projects (
Article 53 says that the government should take control of a public construction project when construction is delayed, operations break down or when the project does not make a profit.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry