The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday apologized for a leaked memo that instructed overseas representative offices to decline all offers of foreign aid and rescue workers except for cash donations, but Acting Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) insisted that the blunder was carelessness, not a “mistake” as reported by the media.
Hsia said the memo “neglected” to say that Taiwan was only ”temporarily” refusing foreign aid, adding that MOFA’s standing policy has always been that Taiwan would seek international assistance if needed.
Hsia said: “The memo dealt with instructing foreign countries how to donate money for relief efforts. Perhaps it was a technical error on our part, but we should have phrased the memo in such a way that it said that we were only ‘temporarily’ declining donations of goods and rescue workers.”
Media reports alleged that Hsia was not the final MOFA official to sign off on the memo, but Hsia yesterday refused to disclose the name of the final person who signed off, saying only that while Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) was abroad, he was in charge.
As acting minister, Hsia said he would shoulder responsibility and was willing to accept punitive actions for any oversight.
Hsia also defended the Presidential Office and Executive Yuan, saying that the Cabinet was not informed of the memo.
The memo was dated Aug. 11, three days after Typhoon Morakot devastated southern Taiwan, leaving hundreds dead or missing and thousands stranded.
On Tuesday, the ministry told reporters that Taiwan could cope with the aftermath of the typhoon on its own and rejected all foreign assistance except monetary donations.
The comments caused a public uproar, and the ministry was condemned as being apathetic and money hungry.
On Thursday, the ministry made an about-face, issuing a wish list of items the country needed for resue efforts to various countries.
At a separate setting yesterday, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦), in response to the MOFA announcement on Tuesday refusing all foreign assistance, said the Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan had no knowledge of the memo. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had asked Ou to look into the issue immediately upon his return, and told him to discipline those who were involved, Wang said.
Wang’s remarks yesterday contradicted previous comments in which he was quoted by the Chinese-language United Daily News as saying on Wednesday that the Presidential Office respected the ministry’s decision.
Meanwhile, legislators across party lines yesterday slammed the ministry for rejecting foreign aid.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) demanded Ou’s resignation for declining foreign aid without first obtaining authorization from the Central Emergency Operation Center.
“[MOFA] made a mistake and then lied [about the memo]. Our rescue work would have been more successful and more lives could have been saved if we had asked for assistance from other nations earlier. Shouldn’t the minister of foreign affairs step down [over this mishap]?” Wang said at a press conference.
Wang said Ma should also be held responsible for the memo because diplomacy is under the president’s authority.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the government should apologize to family members of the flood victims and punish responsible personnel.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) said Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) had failed to supervise the ministry.
“Given the serious flooding and landslides, we should have accepted foreign aid if other nations were willing to offer help. Why did we idiotically decline their gestures?” Chiu asked. “This government is apathetic and insensitive.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS