The Control Yuan will launch an investigation into the Government Information Office’s (GIO) response to the scandal involving an official who allegedly wrote articles defaming Taiwan and Taiwanese, Control Yuan member Chien Lin Whei-jun (錢林慧君) said.
The GIO on Monday referred Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英), director of the information division at Taiwan’s representative office in Toronto, to the Judicial Yuan’s Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries for investigation.
The referral came after the GIO said it was dissatisfied with Kuo’s explanation. GIO Vice Minister George Hsu (?? said on Monday that there was a “substantial gap” between the evidence and Kuo’s answers concerning the articles published under the pen name “Fan Lan-chin” (范蘭欽).
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) accused Kuo last week of being Fan, whose Web log carries numerous articles containing offensive remarks. Kuo said he had only written one of the articles.
The articles refer to Taiwanese as taibazi (台巴子, “Taiwanese rednecks”) and wokou (倭寇, “Japanese pirates”). The articles say “the imposition of martial law [was] a benevolent act” and that “[China] should spend many years suppressing [people in Taiwan] instead of granting any political freedom once it has taken Taiwan by force.”
Kuo was summoned back to Taiwan to answer questions at the GIO in a meeting on Monday, where he denied that he was Fan.
Control Yuan member Huang Wu-tzu (黃武次) yesterday withdrew a request he filed on Monday to investigate, but Chien Lin disagreed.
The GIO’s referral of Kuo to the judiciary’s commission made clear that a Control Yuan investigation was needed, Control Yuan Secretary-General Chen Feng-yi (陳豐義) quoted Huang as saying.
Chien Lin yesterday registered her intention with the Control Yuan to investigate the case. Chen said the Control Yuan respected the authority of individual members.
“After Kuo explained himself to the GIO, the GIO failed to give the public a clear account of the matter. I want to find out whether the GIO tried to cover up for Kuo,” Chien Lin said.
The Control Yuan’s decision came after Taipei City councilors Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) and Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) visited the Control Yuan yesterday, demanding it look into the case.
The city councilors accused Kuo of violating Article 114 and Article 115 of the Criminal Code on treason and public intimidation and Article 5 of the Law on Discipline of Civil Servants (公務人員懲戒法) concerning dereliction of duty.
Later yesterday, GIO Minister Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said the GIO had sent all the evidence the office had collected, as well as evidence from Kuan and other sources, to the commission.
Su dismissed criticism by DPP lawmakers that the GIO had shifted responsibility onto the commission, saying that the GIO’s handling of the matter was in accordance with the law.
“If it is proven that Kuo is Fan Lan-chin, Kuo will be severely punished. But right now, given the discrepancies between our understanding and Kuo’s explanation, we need the Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries to clarify the matter. We believe the commission will make a definitive decision,” Su said.
Legislators across party lines yesterday expressed dissatisfaction with the GIO’s handling of the matter.
At a press conference, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said the GIO’s decision to move Kuo to a non-managerial position was “unacceptable.”
Lin said Kuo was a “butcher” who had sabotaged ethnic harmony in Taiwan, adding that the commission should mete out severe punishment and the Control Yuan should investigate.
Separately yesterday, Kuan said the GIO should suspend Kuo or fire him and warned that about 70 percent of officials who are referred to the commission for investigation escape punishment or receive only a slap on the wrist.
During a question-and-answer session with DPP legislators Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) and Su Chen-ching (蘇震清), Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) agreed with Huang and Su that although public officials enjoy freedom of speech, they should not publish remarks that insult the nation.
Liu said that the government disapproved of the remarks in the articles, but he believed the majority of the nation’s public officials did not think that way.
“If we can deal with the matter of Kuo properly, all of the nation’s public officials will see that we disapprove of [such remarks],” Liu said.
But Su described Kuo as “incompetent,” saying he did not deserve to earn a salary paid by taxpayers.
When approached by reporters, Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) said it was not his place to comment because Kuo was a GIO staffer, but that it was “inappropriate” for a person on the government payroll to harm the nation’s image.
Also yesterday, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) filed a treason lawsuit against Kuo at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
TSU Deputy Secretary-General Liu Yi-teh (劉一德) said in front of the district prosecutors’ office that Kuo had enjoyed a high salary paid by Taiwan, yet published articles defaming Taiwan and the Taiwanese and provoking ethnic tensions in violation of the law.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) said that according to government statistics, only 5.97 percent of public servants lost their posts after being referred to the commission. The DPP caucus would closely watch the probe into Kuo, Lee said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS