Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday approved Government Information Office Minister Cheng Wen-tsang's (鄭文燦) resignation over accusations by the Fuji Television Network that he tried to influence a Japanese company's sale of shares in Taiwan Television Enterprise (TTV).
Su said he accepted Cheng's resignation after carefully reading the report of Vice Premier Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) investigation into the issue.
"Although he did not intervene in the Japanese company's sale of shares, Cheng's participation in the lunch was inappropriate," said Su, referring to a lunch hosted by Cheng on Jan. 17 attended by Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆), Fuji official Sumio Hasegawa and Liberty Times Group (the parent company of the Taipei Times) officials.
Cheng came under attack from opposition lawmakers after Hasegawa last week claimed that Cheng and Chen had arranged the lunch to "suggest" Fuji Television Network transfer its TTV shares to the Liberty Times Group.
"It was difficult for me to make the decision to let him [Cheng] go but I have to," Su added.
Su also said he had nothing to do with the whole episode.
"I never told him [Cheng] to get involved in this [Fuji's selling of TTV shares,]" Su said. "I had no idea he was having such a lunch."
The key that led to the Cheng's resignation was Tsai's investigation report.
In it, Tsai said that although there was no element of personal interest involved, Cheng's behavior was "extremely inappropriate."
Although Cheng's involvement did not cause any damage or change Fuji's mind, he, as a Cabinet spokesman, should take responsibility because his behavior has seriously damaged the Cabinet's credibility after its promise that the government would not interfere with the media, the report said.
"All things can be distorted and politicized under particular political circumstances," Cheng said last night, adding that he resigned to reduce the burden on the Cabinet.
Cheng's post will be temporarily filled by Deputy GIO Minister William Yih (易榮宗).
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS