A smokers’ rights group yesterday filed a complaint with the Control Yuan, urging the watchdog organization to look into recent allegations that the Health Promotion Administration has misused the health and welfare surcharge on tobacco products.
The Taiwan Smokers’ Rights Promotion Association (TSRPA) made the move about a week after several Taiwan Solidarity Union legislators accused the administration of having allowed different government agencies to use 30 percent of the surcharge revenue — which amounts to nearly NT$30 billion (US$949 million) a year — on unrelated matters.
The lawmakers cited a private foundation headed by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Hou Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳), which they said had been allocated subsidies from the tobacco surcharge several times to print lunar calendars and a gourmet guidebook.
“The administration has dismissed the allegations by claiming that there is nothing illegal about the matter. It has also threatened to take legal action against whoever reports, shares or comments on such unfounded rumors,” TSRPA director-general Chen Chi-an (陳麒安) told a press conference in front of the Control Yuan yesterday morning.
Chen said the agency’s “condescending response” prompted the association to lodge the complaint against Health Promotion Administration Director-General Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) on three grounds: dereliction of duty; benefiting specific individuals and political parties; and inadequate implementation of government policies.
It also urged the Control Yuan to investigate appropriations of the tobacco surcharge’s revenue over the past few years.
“The day we realize that the purpose of a government policy is to favor certain people and parties and to serve as a channel for transferring benefits ... is the day we must stop suffering in silence and stand up against this unjust system,” Chen said.
Chiou could not be reached for comments as of press time.
In a separate event earlier yesterday, Chiou said the Tobacco Control Act (菸害防治法) stipulates that the surcharge on tobacco sales should be reviewed and adjusted every two years, but six years have passed since the last increase in the levy.
“There are three major obstacles standing in the way of another increase: corporations, corporations and corporations,” Chiou said.
Chiou said her agency’s plans to further raise the surcharge and sales tax on cigarettes by NT$20 and NT$5 per pack respectively in the near future, a plan that she said could reduce the nation’s smoking rate by 20.8 percent, prompt 740,000 smokers to quit and create a long-term benefit of about NT$296 billion to society.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS