Representative to the US, King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), and Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) Press Division Director Frank Wang (王億) yesterday apologized over a controversial post on the Washington Post Web site, which describes Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) as “former Legislative Speaker.”
Frank Wang said Wang Jin-pyng was the “former Legislative Speaker” in the Washington Post Web site’s readers’ comments column on Sept. 14 and concluded by saying “I’m very glad the [Chinese Nationalist Party] KMT came to resolutely discipline its heavyweight party member.”
This triggered criticism from lawmakers that Frank Wang, as a diplomat, has violated the principle of neutrality. Both King and Frank Wang formally apologized in a press statement released by TECRO.
In the statement, King pointed out that he did not authorize Frank Wang to post the message, but admitted that, “there is negligence involved in the office’s handling of the issue.”
King went on to say that, while Frank Wang did report to the office about the posting, he “thought the contents would be the same as a letter to the editor to the Washington Post” and thus he “did not notice the contentious paragraph at the end of the article” and do something about it.
For this, King “would like to extend his apologies and make sure no similar incident would occur again in the future.”
In the second part of the same statement, Frank Wang also apologized for airing his personal views in the message.
Frank Wang explained that he was merely expressing his own views as an ordinary Internet user without revealing his official title in the message.
“Thus there were certainly personal emotions in the article,” he said.
However, he apologized and said he regretted any controversy his comment may have caused.
Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) David Lin (林永樂) said that the ministry has stressed the need to strictly stand by the principle of administrative neutrality, but said that the ministry has yet to decide what to do about the incident.
“We have to look further into the matter to decide what to do,” he said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) accused King of lying when he said that he did not notice that online messages are different to a formal letter to the editor.
Brandishing a copy of the letter to the editor penned by Frank Wang provided by the ministry, Hsiao pointed out that, although in the original article, Frank Wang did not write that he was pleased that the KMT has gotten rid of Wang Jin-pyng, he did refer to Wang as “former Legislative Speaker.”
“King claims that he didn’t see mistakes in the online article, arguing that he thought it had the same content as the formal letter to the editor,” Hsiao said.
“Well, I’ve got the official copy of the letter to the editor in my hand and Frank Wang referred to Wang Jin-pyng as ‘former Legislative Speaker’ in the formal letter as well.”
Hsiao went on to call on the ministry to punish relevant personnel for the mistake, “otherwise how would you set example for other MOFA employees to follow?”
“When I asked Lin how he is going to handle the case, he said that he would speak with TECRO. Well, I want to remind him not to forget that he is the minister,” Hsiao said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique