With the dust yet to settle on Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien's (余政憲) alleged visit to illegal masseuses, the minister raised more eyebrows yesterday when a Chinese-language tabloid accused him splashing out on a NT$50,000 meal.
According to a magazine published yesterday, Yu was a customer at a restaurant in an up-market hotel in Kaohsiung where he ordered abalone, a delicacy that costs as much as NT$50,000 a dish.
Yu's office yesterday declined to comment on the report, which was based on anonymous sources.
Instead of paying for the meal himself, the report said that Yu had his business friends pick up the bill.
The magazine also alleged that Yu spent hours gambling in the hotel's presidential suit. Stakes at the hotel can be as much as NT$500,000 a night.
Other media yesterday criticized Yu for violating an agreement set down by Premier Yu Shyi-kun and signed by Cabinet officials which stipulates that Cabinet officials should lead a frugal life and avoid attending unnecessary social functions, accepting and sending of flowers and gifts.
Responding to Yu Cheng-hsien's alleged employment of two illegal masseuses, Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
"They've already wrapped up interviewing people concerned and will present a complete report to the premier very soon," Lin said. "We'll make public the result as soon as he makes his decision on the matter."
It is widely speculated that Yu Cheng-hsien may be spared from repercussions because he and his family down in Kaohsiung County enjoy close connections with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching