Lawmakers yesterday questioned Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Wei Kuo-yen (魏國彥) over his overseas trips, with several legislators accusing him of misappropriating the budget allocated for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference in December to finance his trips.
Citing Wei’s trip to the US from Aug. 5 to 13 as an example, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said that the number of EPA officials participating in the fact-finding mission had been downsized from seven to three, including Wei, so there could be enough money for the minister to travel first-class.
The trip was originally set to run for 10 days, but was later extended to 13 days without any explanation from the EPA, Chao said, as he accused the minister of misappropriating the budget reserved for the UNFCCC, which is filed under use for multinational meetings and negotiation.
Wei should heed the distinction between the budget set aside for his personal visits and those for international meetings, as the latter involves the interests of the entire nation, Chao said at the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environment Hygiene Committee meeting.
Chao also alleged that Wei only visited a couple of agencies that deal with the climate-change issues during a trip to the US, but visited a number of irrelevant institutions, such as German-based Siemens AG and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the UK.
In response, Wei said he visited the US in response to an invitation by US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, and that all arrangements regarding his trips were carried out in accordance with the parameters set forth by the Executive Yuan.
Chien Hui-chen (簡慧貞), executive secretary of the EPA’s Office of Greenhouse Gas Reduction, said that the costs of Wei’s trip to attend the UNFCCC conference, which is to be held in Lima, Peru, would be fully covered by the budget and that the expenditure from the minister’s recent trip would not jeopardize the missions he is tasked with for his year-end visit.
However, when DPP Legislator Yang Yao (楊曜) asked Wei to expound on the accomplishments he achieved during his trip to the EU, the minister declined to name the officials he met, saying that doing so would disrupt the agency’s dealings with the UNFCCC.
He also declined to explain what the dealings were, but said that he would provide the list of officials to Yang privately, prompting the legislator to say that the nation’s political system does not allow the EPA to plan any secret budget, and that government officials should detail their accomplishments after their trips.
The minister was also stumped for an answer when DPP Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) asked him about the amount of substandard food oils recycled after last year’s food scare implicating several companies that mixed edible oil products with copper chlorophyll and lower-cost cottonseed oil, including Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co (大統長基), Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) and Flavor Full Food Inc (富味香).
The EPA “has not made any progress” since the last food oil controversy broke out almost a year ago, Liu said.
Wei several hours later cited information provided by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which showed that of the 2,719 tonnes of substandard food oil recycled, 2,680 tonnes of problematic oil was used in the refining of biodiesel and 39 tonnes were used in the making of road paint and machinery lubricants.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS