Government

Prosecutors search Legislative Yuan

KICKBACKS PROBE:The probe into IT procurement contracts is motivated by bad blood between President Ma Ying-jeou and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, critics said

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 20, 2016
By: Jason Pan and Alison Hsiao / Staff reporters

Prosecutors yesterday conducted searches at executive offices of the

An officer from Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office declines to comment to the media during a search of Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Lin Hsi-shan’s office yesterday.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times

Legislative Yuan and detained Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Lin Hsi-shan (林錫山) for questioning as part of an operation by the judiciary to investigate alleged corruption.

The prosecutors seized documents and gathered evidence at 19 locations, while taking in 33 people for questioning.

The investigation is focused on procurement contracts for computer software and hardware, networking system security and telecommunications equipment provided by Far Net Technologies Co (網遠科技), which won a series of public tenders over the past few years.

Including setting up online documentation and information services, as well as an Internet service platform, and providing network security upgrades, Far Net Technologies received close to NT$300 million (US$8.87 million) for the procurement contracts. [FULL STORY]

Defense ministry confirms spy swap

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-30
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) confirmed that two of

Defense ministry confirms spy swap. Central News Agency

its senior intelligence agents kidnapped and held by China for the past nine years have been released and repatriated to Taiwan in October in exchange for one of its own, reports said Monday.

The spy swap marked the first of its kind across the Taiwan Strait following the meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore last month.

“The two agents have since returned from Beijing on October 13 after a unilateral agreement reached on both sides,” ministry spokesman Major General David Lo confirmed in the morning, citing that Hong Kong national Li Zhihao, who was serving a life sentence for espionage in Taiwan, had his request for a parole granted and was also released in late October after spending 16 years in jail. [FULL STORY]

DPP councilors slam Ko over excessive budget

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-11
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Democratic Progressive Party city councilors slammed Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je for allocating

Councilors slam Ko over excessive budgets. Central News Agency

an excess budget of NT$1 billion (US$33 million) for events leading to next year’s World Design Capital promotion in Taipei, reports said Wednesday.

During a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council in the morning, Ko was asked about the NT$7.27 million (US$243,000) fee resulted from a lavish dinner reception at the W Hotel early last week, the mayor however responded that he is unaware of such expenditure.

The allocated budget, of which NT$500 million (US$16.7 million) had gone to the Taiwan Design Center (TDC) to host series of activities related to the event, was a topic of controversy in which Ko said his administration had not been part of. [FULL STORY]

Taiwan to establish national military museum

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-24
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, Oct. 24 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense is planning to build a new national military museum dedicated to the history of the Republic of China’s military, which will be located near the ministry’s headquarters in Taipei.

In an effort to demonstrate its ongoing work to establish the museum, the ministry held a ceremony Saturday at the site where the museum will be built.

The ceremony was also attended by President Ma Ying-jeou, the ministry said in a statement. It is expected to take eight years to build the 10-story museum designed to serve educational and cultural purposes, including the showcasing of artifacts and historical documents that chronicle the establishment of the ROC, the military’s efforts to safeguard the country, [FULL STORY]

Government Web site shows PLA propaganda

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 15, 2015
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Parents and politicians on Tuesday were infuriated when they found a

Minister of National Defense Kao Kuang-chi, second left, attends an interpellation session yesterday in the legislature in Taipei. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

government-sponsored educational Web site to promote national defense concepts showing a video of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on parade, along with about 40 World War II movies that were produced by the Chinese government.

The controversy also riled opposition legislators at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting yesterday, who accused top military officials of negligence for helping Chinese propaganda materials reach Taiwanese.

The Web site that broadcast the videos is among the programs managed by the National Defense Education Center, a collaboration between the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Education, and is based at Hsinchu Senior Girls’ High School in Hsinchu City. [FULL STORY]

Storm brews over second typhoon day

WHO AND WHEN:Taipei and New Taipei City mayors said decisions were made collectively with Keelung, but the port city’s mayor disagreed with that perspective

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 30, 2015
By: Tu Ju-min, Kuo An-chia and Lu Hsien-hsiu / Staff reporters

Controversy erupted yesterday over Taipei, New Taipei City and Keelung’s declaration late

Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je answers questions from reporters in Taipei’s Minsheng Community yesterday. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

on Monday night that yesterday would be a full typhoon day, with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) saying that he was “ashamed” an extra typhoon day had been called.

The three municipalities announced at 8pm on Monday that work and schools would be canceled for half a day yesterday morning. However, two hours later, they announced the entire day would be a typhoon day.

The absence of rain and wind yesterday morning led reporters to question Ko about the appropriateness of a second typhoon day due to Typhoon Dujuan.

“I feel ashamed — an apology is owed to the public for a typhoon holiday being declared for this kind of weather,” he said.

He said the 8pm decision had been made by the departments of the three municipalities based on data provided by the Central Weather Bureau. [FULL STORY]

Old Taipei city council building to be demolished

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) The old Taipei city council building will be demolished and rebuilt

The former Taipei city council building, center, has been left abandoned since 2007. (File photo/Chou Chih-hao)

as a “Taipei vision hall,” the city government said Friday. The demolition work is expected to begin Nov. 24 and to be completed Feb. 9, said Deputy Taipei Mayor Charles Lin.

The building, which covers more than 13,000 pings (42,965 square meters) at the intersection of Zhongshan South Road and Zhongxiao West Road, was built in 1970. It was used as the office of the Zhongzheng First Precinct of the Taipei City Police Department after the city council was relocated to its new building on Renai Road in 1990.

The building has lain idle since the Zhongzheng First Precinct moved out in 2007 and it was declared abandoned in 2009. [FULL STORY]

EasyCard’s Tai might stay until year-end: Ko

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 19, 2015
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that EasyCard general manager Tai

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, second left, holds what he had harvested from a farm, together with Beacon Food Forest founder Jacqueline Cramer, right, and Glenn Herlihy, left, yesterday in Taipei. Photo: CNA

Chi-chuan’s (戴季全) fate might not be decided until the end of this year, amid mounting calls from Taipei city councilors for Tai to step down to take responsibility for the “porn star card” controversy.

Ko made the remarks in response to reporters’ queries on whether Tai, who was demoted from EasyCard chairman to general manager on Tuesday, would be relieved of his duty at the board meeting on Friday next week.

The mayor said that EasyCard Corp, in which the Taipei City Government holds a 40 percent stake, is still predominantly a private firm, and Tai’s fate should be determined by EasyCard’s board of directors, not by the city government alone.

He said he had consulted two “heavyweights” — Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) chairman Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) and EasyCard Corp chairman Kenneth Lin (林向愷) — on Thursday about adjusting EasyCard’s shareholding structure to address underlying issues in the firm, including the TRTC’s disproportionate representation on EasyCard’s board of directors and the “strange” relationship between the firm and its parent company, EasyCard Investment and Holdings Co.

Government approves special fund to help fight dengue outbreak

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-10
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Steve Kuo said the government

Gov. approves special fund to fight dengue. Central News Agency

has approved a special fund totaling NT$42 million (US$1.4 million) to be used for tackling the ongoing dengue fever epidemic, reports said Thursday.

As residents in southern Taiwan continue to be enveloped by the mosquito-borne disease, Kuo also asked the Central government to allow the existing inventory of mosquito repellents be concentrated in areas hardest hit by the outbreak.

The director-general commented on behalf of Premier Mao Chi-kuo that he hopes the fight against dengue will not pose a huge burden on affected local governments.

“That is why I’ve been assigned by the Premier to oversee the initiatives carried out against the dengue fever epidemic in southern Taiwan,” Kuo said.

The spread of dengue fever in southern Taiwan is not showing any signs of relenting. As of Wednesday, the number of cases nationwide since May 1 had risen to 7,453, with Tainan accounting for 6,576 cases; an increase of 507 cases from the previous day. [FULL STORY]

50% of masks sold in market mislabeled: survey

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/04
By: By Chen Cheng-wei and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Sept. 4 (CNA) Fifty percent of masks sold in the Taiwan market are

CNA file photo

mislabeled, according to a survey released Friday by the Department of Consumer Protection.

For the purpose of the survey, the department randomly bought 36 brands of masks from retailers in June, which included six ordinary masks and 30 surgical masks.

It was found that three of the ordinary masks and 16 of the surgical masks were labeled with false or misleading information.

For example, some of the products claimed that they were capable of blocking particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5), and some said they had a bacteria filtering efficiency of 99 percent, the department said. [FULL STORY]

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