President Chen Shui-bian (
Wang told the press that he was asked to see the president on Thursday night, amid recent corruption allegations over Chen's use of the "state affairs fund."
Wang said that the corruption allegations made against Chen and the alleged irregularities found in Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (
"We didn't talk about the problems that happened in the past. We talked about how to establish rules and regulations for the future," Wang said.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (
Ma's case was a good example, Su said.
"It shows that nobody is perfect. Everybody will have his time to be examined and there is no exception," Su said. "I think it is a good thing. It shows that everybody will be treated fairly in terms of justice."
When asked to comment regarding Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) statement on Thursday that every government official's special allowance fund should be examined for misuse, Su said he seconded the idea.
"Now that this issue has become a focus for the public, it will be a good thing and a good chance for everybody to examine the mechanism and fix the leaks," he said.
Meanwhile, DPP legislators Kao Chien-chih (
The proposal was seen as a move to counter the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) motion passed in a meeting of the legislature's Organic Laws and Statutes committee, which demanded that central government officials who have received special allowance funds since January 2004 submit spending reports within two weeks.
The KMT's proposal was targeted mainly at DPP officials, while the lawsuit to be filed by DPP would investigate many KMT heavyweights, including Wang and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
In related news, Chen said yesterday that he was willing to dedicate himself to establishing a comprehensive system for regulating the fxfice of president during the remainder of his term in office, which ends in May 2008.
Saying that he inherited a legacy that was more complex and intertwined than "anyone could have imagined" when he assumed his presidency in 2000, Chen said that in a democracy, all outdated presidential systems and practices should be reviewed.
Chen made his remarks in a speech delivered at a conference on transitional justice held by the Taiwan Historical Association.
Chen said that during the rule of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (
As an example, Chen said that after Chiang Ching-kuo passed away in 1988, his wife Faina Chiang (
Chiang Ching-kuo's daughter-in-law, Chiang Hsu Nai-chin (
"We've taken this for granted, but when the residence of an incumbent president is used in a similar way, others call it corruption," Chen said, referring to his residence on Minsheng E Rd in Taipei, which was left for his daughter after her marriage in 2001.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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