The advisory board of the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, the nation’s top defense research body, has become a sinecure office for retired military personnel and is having an adverse effect on defense development, lawmakers said yesterday.
The institute is a semi-government agency founded by the Ministry of National Defense, which functions independently, despite its close ties with the ministry and reliance on government funding and contracts.
The institute has played a leading role in developing homegrown trainer jets, surface vessels and submarines to build self-sufficiency in defense, while its subcontractors have been awarded contracts worth billions of New Taiwan dollars.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
A 13-member advisory board of the institute is responsible for providing professional suggestions on weapons research, development and production, but most of the board members are former military personnel with no expertise in weapons development, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) told a news conference in Taipei.
Except for one retired institute official, the other 12 members are former defense ministry officials, while among the 12, only two have worked in armament units and the others have no experience in the field of defense science, Lo said.
“The overwhelming presence of military personnel with little background in weapons development or science nullifies the purpose of the advisory board,” Lo said.
The board members are paid between NT$160,000 and NT$180,000 per person per month, giving rise to the suspicion that the board position is a sinecure, he said.
“The institute said the reason the board members are hired is because of their ability to communicate with the armed forces. However, the institute is founded by the ministry and is well connected with it, so there is no need to hire ministry officials,” DPP Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) said.
“Are they appointed to play gatekeeper” to ensure ministry contracts? Tsai asked.
A board member surnamed Chen (陳) worked for US defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin after retiring from the ministry and his appointment to the board might create a conflict of interests, DPP Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) said.
“If he is still an employee of Lockheed Martin, the institute has to relieve him of his duties, because his assumption of board duties might be to the firm’s favor,” Wang said.
The lawmakers asked the institute to consider downsizing the board or replacing it with independent, outside directors, Tsai said.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man