President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday nominated former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman John Kuan (關中) as head of the Examination Yuan and former Control Yuan member Chen Jinn-lih (陳進利) as vice president of the Control Yuan.
Ma also nominated three Examination Yuan members and five grand justices. The nomination of Kuan, Chen and the three Examination Yuan members was presented after Ma’s original nominations of Chang Chun-yen (張俊彥) as Examination Yuan president, Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) as Control Yuan vice president and three other nominees affiliated with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were rejected.
“The nominees are great choices, and we hope the legislature will approve the nominations,” Ma said when receiving the nominees at the Presidential Office yesteday.
PHOTO: CNA
Kuan, 68, had served as vice president of the Examination Yuan. He resigned as the KMT vice chairman after being informed of the nomination, and brushed aside claims that his position was a reward for his campaign efforts during the presidential election.
“If you know what I’ve achieved during the six years in the Examination Yuan and what I’ve contributed to related policies and reforms, you will know that I am an expert in the field,” Kuan said.
When asked about his long-term involvement in KMT affairs, Kuan said he would seek to strike a balance between party politics and the neutrality required of civil servants.
“I believe I will be able to make some contributions to establishing the civil office system with my expertise and experience,” he said.
Chen vowed to assist Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien to clamp down on corruption, and said the Control Yuan should list the “319 shooting” investigation as a priority.
The “319 shooting” refers to the election-eve attack on former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and former vice-president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) on March 19, 2004.
Chen Jinn-lih, a member of the Amis tribe, will become the first Control Yuan vice president with an Aboriginal background if the Legislative Yuan approves his nomination.
Chang had dropped out of the legislative confirmation vote in July following allegations that he had accepted payments from Polaris Securities Co during his time as president of National Chiao Tung University.
The three Control Yuan nominees are former Control Yuan member Yeh Yao-peng (葉耀鵬), National Union of Nurses president Yin Jeo-chen (尹祚芊) and Chen Yung-hsiang (陳永祥), a civil engineering professor at National Taiwan University.
The five nominees for the Council of Grand Justices are attorney and National Taiwan University (NTU) law professor Huang Mao-jung (黃茂榮), National Chengchi University law professor Chen Ming (陳敏), Supreme Administrative Court judge Yeh Bai-xiu (葉百修), Academia Sinica researcher Chen Hsin-min (陳新民) and Chen Chun-sheng (陳春生), an honorary professor with National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of National Development.
The Presidential Office will present the nominations to the Legislative Yuan on Friday for approval.
Wang Chien-shien said Ma had made a good choice in nominating Chen Jinn-lih as Control Yuan vice president.
“Not many Aborigines have had the opportunity to work for Yuan-level governmental agencies in the past,” he said. “If he were to become vice president of the Control Yuan, it would be an encouragement to Aborigines and would meet with the expectations of Aboriginal people.”
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus opposed Kuan’s nomination.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) told a press conference that a person like Kuan, who has been deeply involved with the KMT’s affairs, would be incapable of creating fair mechanisms for screening qualified government officials.
Defending Ma’s nomination of Kuan, KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said Kuan was qualified, given his experience as vice president of the Examination Yuan and minister of the civil service.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan, Flora Wang and Jimmy Chuang
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS