A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator accompanying President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on his trip to Central America yesterday criticized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for communication failures after a series of disputes between Ma's security personnel and those of Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom.
KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) told reporters that Colom's bodyguards were blocked and frisked when they tried to enter a banquet hosted by Taiwanese Ambassador to Guatemala Sun Ta-chen (孫大成) at his official residence.
“It is not an eye for an eye or deliberate reprisal,” Hsieh said. “But our people cannot speak Spanish and both sides have to communicate using body language. It shows that there is a serious problem in our embassy personnel's communication ability.”
A series of disputes between Ma's security personnel and those of Colom arose during Ma's first day in Guatemala on Friday.
The first dispute arose when Ma's bodyguards wanted to enter a secure area where Colom was welcoming Ma with a 21-gun salute and military honor guard. Guatemalan security personnel refused to allow them to enter.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) later said that security issues are usually negotiated beforehand, but the “misunderstanding” was the result of communication problems and the demand by all of Ma's bodyguards to be allowed into the secure zone. After communicating through translators, three bodyguards were allowed in, Wang said.
A dispute over access arose again later that day when Ma and Colom were signing a joint statement. Only one of Ma's bodyguards was allowed to enter the secure area after he agreed to surrender his weapon.
Officials in Guatemala and at home offered different accounts, however.
Wang denied that the bodyguard was asked to surrender his weapon. He also downplayed the conflict between the two sides.
National Security Bureau (NSB) Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) told a legislative committee on Monday that there was no quarrel or conflict, nor did Ma's boyguard surrender his weapon.
He also blamed the media for “circulating erroneous reports.”
The NSB yesterday also issued a statement dismissing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-ching's (葉宜津) allegation that three of Ma's bodyguards involved in the controversy were not security personnel but police officers carrying guns.
The statement said that the bureau regularly recruits talent from the National Police Administration to join the security forces, adding that the three police officers had completed the training program and passed tests.
The man who entered the venue where the joint statement was being signed was a security guard with military background, the statement said.
It did not touch on Hsieh's criticism.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese