The Legislative Yuan today passed two motions under the opposition’s majority condemning Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and requesting that National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) step down.
Both motions were proposed by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
In its proposal regarding Wu, the TPP said that Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑), Wu’s former assistant during his tenure as minister of foreign affairs, is facing severe penalties for leaking national security secrets to China.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The Taipei District Court in September sentenced Ho to eight years and two months in prison for passing along sensitive information on foreign relations collected as Wu’s assistant.
Ho’s actions seriously threatened national security and diplomacy, but Wu has since evaded legislative oversight, harming Taiwan’s constitutional system, the proposal said.
Wu is no longer fit to serve his position and should resign to assume his due political responsibility, it said.
The motion was passed with 52 votes in favor and 48 votes against.
In its proposal regarding Cho, the TPP said the premier should bear the full responsibility for the Cabinet’s overall performance.
During his tenure, Cho has disregarded constitutional rights protections, failed to respect constitutional boundaries and harmed the democratic separation of powers, causing a constitutional impasse, division between parties and social unrest which all remain difficult to solve, the proposal said.
“National interests are always above party interests, and party interests should never supersede the people’s interests,” it said.
The motion was passed with 55 votes in favor and 48 votes against.
Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said the Cabinet regrets that it was condemned by the legislature for upholding the Constitution, and urged lawmakers to adhere to its constitutional duties and expedite review of this year's budget.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus secretary-general Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) said the Cabinet has already put forward many proposals awaiting deliberation in the legislature, and called on the opposition to prioritize people’s livelihoods and stop “pointless political infighting.”
While the opposition moved to condemn Cho and Wu, they also blocked a DPP proposal to condemn Beijing for its military exercises earlier this week from even being discussed, Chen said.
The NSC said the motion sends the wrong signal to the outside world and provides Beijing with an opportunity to further divide Taiwanese society and conduct cognitive warfare.
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua, Su Yung-yao and CNA
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Taiwanese singer Jay Chou (周杰倫) plans to take to the courts of the Australian Open for the first time as a competitor in the high-stakes 1 Point Slam. The Australian Open yesterday afternoon announced the news on its official Instagram account, welcoming Chou — who celebrates his 47th birthday on Sunday — to the star-studded lineup of the tournament’s signature warm-up event. “From being the King of Mandarin Pop filling stadiums with his music to being Kato from The Green Hornet and now shifting focus to being a dedicated tennis player — welcome @jaychou to the 1 Point Slam and #AusOpen,” the
RSS