None of the 57 candidates who hope to head the nation’s cities and counties next year consider Minister of Education Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆) qualified for his position, the National Federation of Teachers’ Unions said yesterday, citing a survey it conducted.
The group on April 30 demanded that Wu step down after he was accused of illegally receiving research grants, working in China and owning businesses, as well as infringing on patent rights.
Since then it has announced a series of moves to oppose him, including urging teachers not to take any orders from the Ministry of Education or attend meetings presided over by Wu.
It surveyed 57 mayoral and county commissioner candidates across party lines, the group said.
Of the 17 candidates who responded, 16 said Wu is unqualified to be education minister.
Of the 16, 13 are from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), two are independents and one is from the Taiwan Solidarity Union, it said.
While Nantou County Commissioner Lin Ming-chen (林明溱) also responded, the group quoted him as saying that he “would prefer not to comment on the subject.”
“The result shows that almost all respondents consider Wu unqualified, regardless of their political affiliation,” the federation said.
While no incumbent candidates — other than Lin — responded to the survey, they might have chosen not to express their opinions because their governments need funding from the ministry, it said.
None of 20 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidates, including incumbents, said Wu is qualified to be the minister.
“It was not surprising to find that some DPP candidates preferred not to speak about the subject, but it was shocking that not one of them was willing to openly support Wu,” the federation said, adding that the survey confirms how unqualified the minister is.
Almost all teachers’ unions and more than 15 parents’ associations have openly asked Wu to step down, the group said.
The government should replace Wu as soon as possible, federation president Chang Hsu-cheng (張旭政) said, adding that the series of allegations against him have raised questions about his integrity, and his lack of support would make it difficult for the ministry to promote any policies.
Additional reporting Rachel Lin
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS