Legislators across party lines took Premier Jiang Yi-huah’s (江宜樺) Cabinet, including Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) and Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達), to task for the recent controversies over former MAC deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao’s (張顯耀) alleged leaks of secrets and the edible oil scandal.
The question-and-answer session at the legislative floor meeting after Jiang’s policy address, — which did not take place in the morning after the Cabinet head refused to apologize as requested by the opposition — saw lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle voicing anger over the recent oil scandal. They cited the Cabinet’s failure to make good on its promises made during the last food scare, which also involved substandard oil, and the government’s handling of allegations that Chang leaked information to China.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) questioned Jiang and Wang over Chang’s removal, during which Wang reiterated he was the one who decided to “advise” Chang’s removal and reported to Jiang and National Security Council Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), who he believed “would and did report to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).”
Jiang at one point said he “does not think Chang will be completely cleared of the suspicion of information leaks,” adding that instead, it was only a matter of degree.
While Wang said the case is still under investigation and therefore he could not make a judgement on it, he said that none of the ongoing or recently completed negotiations on cross-strait agreements, including the cross-strait service trade agreement and the trade in goods agreement, “were presided over or supervised by Chang” so there was no need to revise the agreements.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said Wang’s remarks were contradictory, adding that if Wang had no idea, as he said, whether there were other accomplices in Chang’s case since the investigation is still ongoing, “how could [Wang] be 100 percent sure that all the cross-strait agreements are without problems?”
“How can the negotiation for the trade in goods agreement be implemented as it is stands?” Tsai asked.
Wang and Jiang called Tsai’s doubt a slippery slope fallacy, with Wang retorting: “So the government operation must come to a halt [because of Chang’s case]?”
On the recent oil scandal, both KMT and DPP lawmakers accused the government of poor governance and oversight.
Yang said the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification had lost all credibility and that the acronym has come to stand for “Give Me a Pass.”
Tsai said it now stands for “Grieving Mama and Papa,” because parents do not know what food they can provide that is safe for their children.
KMT Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) put on headwear in the shape of a dog’s head when questioning Jiang and Chiu, saying she did so because she felt her questioning since the oil scandal broke out last year has been like “a dog barking against a train,” which is a Taiwanese saying that means wasting one’s effort over something.
“I feel pathetic and would like to ask for a 30-second silence because all my questions today were no different from those I presented during the last oil scandal,” said Lu, playing a video clip showing Jiang promising to “thoroughly inspect all the oil manufacturing factories and GMP-certified ones.”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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