The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday disputed President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) nomination of Chen Chu (陳菊) as Control Yuan president, saying that her tenures as Kaohsiung mayor and Presidential Office secretary-general were fraught with scandals, making her unfit for a post whose main responsibility is to investigate potential corruption.
Local media cited sources as saying that Chen has been nominated by Tsai to head the Control Yuan, while former Taitung County commissioner Justin Huang (黃健庭) has been nominated as her deputy.
KMT caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) told a news conference that Control Yuan members during Chen’s time as Kaohsiung mayor from 2006 to 2018 opened 58 cases involving the municipal government, including three impeachment cases and 30 corrective actions.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Notably, the Control Yuan in 2015 censured Chen’s administration over the gas pipeline explosions that tore through the city’s Cianjhen (前鎮) and Lingya (苓雅) districts, killing 32 people and injured 321, Lin said.
In addition, the Control Yuan last year impeached then-Kaohsiung Marine Bureau director-general Wang Tuan-jen (王端仁), who was accused of exerting undue influence to help Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co secure space at Singda Harbor (興達港) to develop minesweepers, he said.
Lin asked if Chen became Control Yuan president, whether investigations into the 58 cases would continue, and if they would, whether Chen would resign if illegalities were found.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has long advocated eliminating the Control Yuan, yet it insists on nominating Chen and 27 Control Yuan members so it can engage in pork-barrel politics one last time, he said.
The KMT caucus would not accept the DPP’s double standards and faulty logic when asked to vote on the nominees in an extraordinary session scheduled to begin on June 29, Lin said.
Chen was Presidential Office secretary-general when a duty-free cigarette smuggling scandal that implicated officials from the office and China Pacific Catering Services erupted, KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said.
Chen might be a fitting candidate to serve as chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission at the Control Yuan — a post that is assumed by the Control Yuan president under the Organic Act of the Control Yuan National Human Rights Commission (監察院國家人權委員會組織法), Lin Yi-hua said, referring to Chen’s time as a political prisoner after the Kaohsiung Incident.
However, Chen is to date the most unfit candidate for Control Yuan president, she said.
Separately yesteday, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislative caucus also criticized Chen as a possible pick, with TPP caucus convener Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) saying: “This is a blatant political appointment.”
The appointment goes against Tsai’s proclaimed principles of appointing people to government positions who are above party differences, accepting different opinions, appointing individuals from different fields and de-escalating confrontation, Lai said.
“Tsai has not lived up to her goals and has instead become the ‘unreformed KMT’ that she critiques,” Lai said.
TPP caucus deputy convener Chang Chi-lu (張其祿) said that the DPP is contradicting its own political stance that Taiwan move from separation of five powers to separation of three powers.
The DPP should be establishing a parliamentary system and abolishing the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan, instead of handing out positions in organizations it itself calls “unnecessary” and “out-moded,” Chang said.
The government should suspend the nomination process instead of pursuing a controversial nomination, Chang said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry
RSS