The widow of a former diplomat to Japan, who committed suicide in September after his office had come under fire for its handling of stranded Taiwanese tourists due to a typhoon, on Thursday denied that false information drove her husband to take his own life, saying that it was instead “anticipated humiliation” by his superiors.
In a statement issued through Eastern Broadcasting Co (EBC, 東森電視), the wife of Su Chii-cherng (蘇啟誠), who was director-general of the Osaka branch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office until his death on Sept. 14, said that only family members had read Su’s suicide note, which did not mention pressure caused by fake news.
“Rather, he committed suicide after finishing a reflection report ordered by his superiors and on the eve of a work meeting to defend his honor, leaving behind a note saying that he ‘does not want to be humiliated,’” said Su’s wife, who did not make her name public.
Screengrab from the Internet
She was referring to a meeting originally scheduled for Sept. 15 between the nation’s six branch offices in Japan to discuss how to revise their emergency response protocols.
She said that she felt the need to go public because some politicians and news outlets have purposefully misled the public at the expense of Su’s reputation following a district court’s decision earlier this month to dismiss charges against a student who was accused of spreading misinformation that fueled public criticism of Su’s office.
The student in September posted a message on social media saying that the Chinese embassy had sent 15 tour buses to evacuate its citizens and Taiwanese who were stranded at Osaka’s Kansai International Airport due to flooding from Typhoon Jebi.
At the time, Su’s office had also been accused of refusing to help a stranded Taiwanese tourist find accommodation.
The false information was believed to have contributed to his death, as Japan Broadcasting Corp reported on the day of his death that a note left by him suggested that he had been in pain because of overwhelming public criticism over his office’s handling of the stranded tourists.
In an interview with EBC that aired on Thursday, Su’s wife said that there was no direct link between the false information and her husband’s death, because what he found “unbearable” was the possibility of him being recalled to Taiwan.
An article published by the Chinese-language Apple Daily late on Thursday cited “internal government information” as saying that the reason for Su’s suicide was a 20-minute telephone call from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sept. 13 informing him that he would be transferred back to Taiwan with a minor demerit and that his office’s staff would all receive a “C” performance rating.
However, the ministry yesterday said in a news release that it had not planned punitive measures against Su and his staff as reported by the media, adding that the telephone call did not happen.
“Punitive measures are only meted out after the liability of concerned parties is ascertained... That process had not been completed for the case in question at the time,” the ministry said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday urged Control Yuan members to launch an investigation into the issue, and called on the ministry to disclose the truth and for responsible parties to step down.
In a Facebook post that listed seven points as well as text messages that Su sent to his friend Wang Hui-sheng (王輝生), Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said that “it is likely true that [Su] agonized over the fake news.”
Hsieh added that he would file suit against former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) for saying that the “Democratic Progressive Party government and Hsieh are the ones who drove Su to his death.”
Additional reporting by Chen Yun and Peng Wan-hsin
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
Taiwan is hosting the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) for the first time, welcoming more than 400 young linguists from 43 nations to National Taiwan University (NTU). Deputy Minister of Education Chu Chun-chang (朱俊彰) said at the opening ceremony yesterday that language passes down knowledge and culture, and influences the way humankind thinks and understands the world. Taiwan is a multicultural and multilingual nation, with Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka, 16 indigenous languages and Taiwan Sign Language all used, Chu said. In addition, Taiwan promotes multilingual education, emphasizes the cultural significance of languages and supports the international mother language movement, he said. Taiwan has long participated
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
RSS