Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) yesterday declined to apologize after being accused of making “reckless” remarks in response to a report in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) on Monday that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) motorcade abused its traffic privileges while the president was not in the car.
“I don’t understand what they are thinking,” Wang said. “Doesn’t the Liberty Times, which created a composite photograph that deviated from the truth, owe the public an explanation?”
Wang made the remarks in response to a request by the Liberty Times in a news analysis published yesterday that Wang clarify and apologize for “speaking recklessly” about the matter.
The report accused Wang of taking up a minor issue to evade a major issue because the question the paper raised was whether the president’s motorcade had abused its traffic privileges while the president was not in the car.
The Liberty Times ran a composite photograph on Monday as an illustration to accompany a story about Ma, who doubles as chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), as he stumped for KMT candidates ahead of Saturday’s local elections.
The report said Ma’s motorcade was speeding while using loudspeakers to order vehicles to make way.
The composite photo had a caption identifying it as such in the lower, left-hand corner.
Following the Liberty Times report on Monday, Wang apologized for any inconvenience caused by Ma’s motorcade.
The Presidential Office confirmed that Ma was not in the car at the time, but was flying from Hsinchu to Chiayi on the presidential plane.
Wang on Tuesday said the photo used did not picture Ma’s convoy, but probably showed former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) motorcade. He said the leading vehicle in Ma’s motorcade is a BMW740 and that Ma rides in a Ford E350, while the lead car in the composite photograph was a Ford and the presidential vehicle a BMW — a formation used during the Chen presidency.
Meanwhile, Chen yesterday accused Wang of “lying” and “leaking sensitive information” on presidential security.
In a statement issued by his office, Chen asked the Presidential Office to instruct the National Security Bureau’s special forces center to clarify the matter.
Chen accused Wang of making remarks that “did not tally with the facts,” saying his motorcade never used vans as the lead vehicle nor used the fast lane to abuse its traffic privileges.
“Is what Wang said the official response of the Presidential Office?” Chen asked. “Who authorized him to reveal details of the security deployment of the president and his vehicle formation?”
Wang yesterday avoided Chen’s questions, saying that the paper that created the composite photograph knew the truth.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS