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One of the top stories from this past week was that President Tsai Ing-wen has chosen James Soong as her envoy to an upcoming APEC Economic Leaders’ summit in Lima, Peru. Soong is the chair of the minor opposition People First Party (PFP).
But China’s Taiwan Affairs Office objected to the pick, saying that Taiwanese representatives to APEC "should comply with the relevant provisions of the APEC Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)" which bars Taiwanese political leaders from attending the APEC summit.
In Taipei, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Eleanor Wang responded by saying that Taiwan did sign the MOU in 1991 when Taiwan joined APEC. However, Wang said, the first APEC Economic Leaders’ summit did not take place until 1993, after the memorandum was signed. Therefore, she said, the provisions stated in the MOU could not apply to a meeting that did not yet exist.
Meanwhile, Presidential Office spokesperson Alex Huang said Thursday afternoon that Taiwan is a member of APEC, and it has the full rights and responsibility of participation, so there should be no problem with its pick for APEC envoy.
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Also this past week, a draft amendment mandating a controversial five-day workweek made it through the first step of the legislative process on Wednesday. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) pushed the amendment through despite protest from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT).
The legislative committee passed the draft in just 60 seconds, without allowing for any discussion. This means it will be sent to inter-party negotiations before being reviewed by the full legislature.
The amendment would guarantee two days off per week for employees. One of the two days would be compulsory, while the other would be flexible. That means workers who work overtime on the flexible day would get paid high overtime wages, while those working on the compulsory day would get an extra day off.
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And finally, this past week, the head of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), Ding Kung-hwa, has resigned following criticism of the FSC’s handling of the Mega Bank scandal.
In August, New York State’s financial regulator fined the New York branch of Taiwan’s Mega Bank US$180 million for violating anti-money laundering regulations. The bank’s Chicago branch was also in the news for breaching local trade regulations.
Both the FSC and the finance ministry have been investigating the matter. However, many in the media have criticized Ding’s handling of the case, saying he is unfit to head the FSC.
Ding handed in his letter of resignation on Monday, and it was approved by Premier Lin Chuan. Ding said he decided to resign in order to prove his innocence and dignity, and to stop further speculation from damaging the reputation of the FSC.