Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday said that he would give up his pension and privileges, and return to his position as a research fellow at Academia Sinica.
He will be the first vice president to renounce their pension and privileges.
The Act of Courtesy for Former Presidents and Vice Presidents (卸任總統副總統禮遇條例) stipulates a monthly pension of NT$180,000 (US$6,010) for a former vice president, along with a NT$4 million annual budget to pay for their security detail, chauffeur and operational costs of their office.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
However, the budget is reduced by NT$500,000 each year over a four-year period to NT$2.5 million, where it would remain.
Eschewing the pension and payments would save the nation about NT$23 million in the first four years after he leaves office.
However, as his position has made him privy to state secrets, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has ordered security to protect Chen under the Special Service Act (特種勤務條例), a source said.
“True power comes from service,” Chen wrote yesterday on Facebook, quoting Pope Francis.
Chen said that it has been his honor to serve Taiwan for four years, during which he took part in advocating for marriage equality, improving human rights and containing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chen, who led the fight against SARS from 2003 to 2004 as head of the then-Department of Health, said he is glad to see his team reuniting again to fight against COVID-19 and that Taiwanese are practicing better personal hygiene.
Quoting Mother Teresa, Chen, a devout Catholic, compared himself to a “little pencil in God’s hands,” which when broken is sharpened a little more.
It is time for the pencil to continue writing research papers and books, he said.
Asked about his advice for vice president-elect William Lai (賴清德), Chen said during a meeting with journalists at the Presidential Office in Taipei that no policy can win everyone’s support and that any politician would face both praise and criticism.
Lai is more experienced in politics and more capable than he is, Chen said, adding that he is convinced that Lai would help Tsai make Taiwan better in the next four years.
Later yesterday, Tsai on Facebook thanked Chen for his help in promoting pension reform, marriage equality, diplomatic affairs and disease prevention.
Everyone who has worked with Chen likes him for his warmth and optimism, Tsai wrote.
Academia Sinica confirmed that Chen would return to his research post at its Genomics Research Center.
The institution has prepared him an office, it said, adding that it would rely on Chen’s expertise in epidemiology and public health, to boost its related research capacity.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS