The Legislative Yuan confirmed yesterday two Fair Trade Commission (FTC) nominees, but rejected two others, including the body’s incumbent chairperson.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government nominated FTC Chairperson Lee May (李鎂), Vice Chairman Chen Chih-min (陳志民) and Commissioner Hong Tsai-lung (洪財隆) on Oct. 30 last year to continue in their positions after their terms ends on Jan. 31.
Lin Ching-tang (林慶堂), the incumbent head of the FTC’s Department of Service Industry Competition, was also nominated as a new commissioner the same day.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Lawmakers from the DPP, the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), and two independents voted unanimously yesterday to confirm Chen and Lin to serve four-year terms as commissioners from Feb. 1 to Jan. 31, 2029.
However, Lee and Hong were rejected by lawmakers from the two opposition parties, who together form a majority in the legislative body.
Before the vote, TPP caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said his party would reject Hong, because of his actions related to the commission’s consideration of PX Mart Ltd’s (全聯實業) acquisition of RT-Mart International Ltd (大潤發).
Huang said Hong demanded that PX Mart donate NT$300 million (US$9.11 million) to sports and chess events as a precondition for approving the acquisition bid during the review meeting, which Huang said should have focused on consumers’ rights.
The party also rejected Lee, because she stood by and watched Hong make the demands without stopping him, Huang said.
As a result, Lee got 52 votes from DPP lawmakers and Chen Chao-ming (陳超明), an independent who is usually aligned with the KMT, while the remaining lawmakers cast opposing votes.
Similarly, Hong was rejected with 51 votes in support from DPP members, and 62 opposing votes from the KMT (52), the TPP (8) and two independent lawmakers.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
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