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Control Yuan report dismisses criticism of PFP legislator

A Control Yuan investigation yesterday dismissed as "subjective" accusations that People First Party (PFP) Legislator Kao Ming-chien (高明見) had sided with China during an international conference in June.

The Control Yuan found that Taiwanese participants in the SARS conference held by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Kuala Lumpur could not be challenged simply because they had attended the conference.

The investigation, conducted by Lin Chiou-shan (林秋山), Liao Jiann-nan (廖健男) and Kuo Shih-chi (郭石吉), said that Kao should not be criticized for being present at the conference because it could not be verified that he had collaborated with Beijing.

"It is improper to claim that Kao was a delegate from China simply because his name was on Beijing's list of proposed participants. The WHO obviously did not take the list as an official document," the investigation said.

Commenting on the government's handling of the matter, the Control Yuan investigators said it could be argued that Kao had been excluded from a confidential meeting held by Taiwanese officials to counteract possible interference from Beijing.

It was also difficult to say if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies had not been derelict in their duty for not informing Kao about that meeting, they said.

The Control Yuan investigators carried out their review after receiving complaints from members of the PFP legislative caucus.

The PFP protested against the actions of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators who claimed that Kao attended the conference with Chinese assistance.

Kao was not a member of the official Taiwan delegation.

The DPP members had argued that Kao attended the WHO meeting on the strength of a Chinese invitation after discovering that Kao's name had been on Beijing's list of proposed participants.
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