Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chung-mo (
Paal's personality and his friendliness toward China have given President Chen Shui-bian's (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The diplomat's relationship with government officials has been bumpy since he became director of the AIT in 2002. Complaints about him have found their way to Washington and, according to a senior government official, Paal was once forced to take a trip to the US to clear up his bosses' concerns about his performance in Taiwan.
"Paal is very snobbish, very hard to get along with," said the official, who is familiar with foreign affairs.
According to the official, Paal, once a member of the National Security Council under former US president George W. Bush, met with US President George W. Bush during the trip to the US to explain his problems with the Taiwanese government.
After their conversation, Bush told Paal: "You are still trusted." Paal related his successful meeting with Bush to a number of officials here.
Lin's conflict with Paal stemmed in large part from Lin's skepticism about the huge NT$610.8 billion (US$18.25 billion) budget allocation that the Cabinet has earmarked for purchasing arms from the US. The proposal is yet to be passed by the legislature.
Paal is believed to have played a key role in formulating the spending request. Known for faithfully implementing US policies in Taiwan, Paal once helped General Electric, a US concern, win a battle with Britain's Rolls Royce for an aircraft engine deal with China Airlines that was worth between US$600 million and US$700.
DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (
The budget serves the US' interest but not necessarily Taiwan's, Hsiao said, and for Lin, that is difficult to accept.
Lin's frustration over the proposed spending is not the only reason for his public spat with Paal. Another factor is that with legislative elections only a few months away, Lin is doing everything he can to boost his visibility and improve his electoral chances.
But calling Paal a "vicious dog" was too much. On Thursday, Chen showed strong displeasure with Lin's behavior during a meeting with legislators from the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
According to legislators who attended the meeting, Chen said that Lin should not irrationally accuse the US of intimidating Taiwan into buying weapons. Attacking foreign diplomats is "very inappropriate," the president was quoted as saying.
The next day Lin was seen escorted by DPP heavyweights to apologize to Paal.
An editorial printed in the Chinese-language Taiwan Daily this week reprimanded Lin for his remarks. However, the piece also called for Paal to reflect on his behavior. "After all, Lin is not the only official in Taiwan questioning whether Paal should continue in his current position," the editorial said.
"Lin's comparison of Paal to a vicious dog has to some degree revealed the public's concerns about the AIT director's actions," the piece continued.
As one example of behavior on Paal's part that has raised eyebrows, he made repeated visits to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
As KMT and PFP supporters were staging demonstrations accusing Chen's government of manipulating the presidential election, Paal's visits to Lien and Soong were interpreted by the opposition camp as a US endorsement of the two.
"Whether Paal is suitable for his present job deserves serious discussions between the US and Taiwan governments ? We have sufficient evidence to doubt whether the AIT director has been faithfully and precisely reporting to the US administration the collective will of the Taiwanese people," the editorial said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
REVENGE TRAVEL: A surge in ticket prices should ease this year, but inflation would likely keep tickets at a higher price than before the pandemic Scoot is to offer six additional flights between Singapore and Northeast Asia, with all routes transiting Taipei from April 1, as the budget airline continues to resume operations that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Scoot official said on Thursday. Vice president of sales Lee Yong Sin (李榮新) said at a gathering with reporters in Taipei that the number of flights from Singapore to Japan and South Korea with a stop in Taiwan would increase from 15 to 21 each week. That change means the number of the Singapore-Taiwan-Tokyo flights per week would increase from seven to 12, while Singapore-Taiwan-Seoul
BAD NEIGHBORS: China took fourth place among countries spreading disinformation, with Hong Kong being used as a hub to spread propaganda, a V-Dem study found Taiwan has been rated as the country most affected by disinformation for the 11th consecutive year in a study by the global research project Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). The nation continues to be a target of disinformation originating from China, and Hong Kong is increasingly being used as a base from which to disseminate that disinformation, the report said. After Taiwan, Latvia and Palestine ranked second and third respectively, while Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela and China, in that order, were the countries that spread the most disinformation, the report said. Each country listed in the report was given a score,
POOR PREPARATION: Cultures can form on food that is out of refrigeration for too long and cooking does not reliably neutralize their toxins, an epidemiologist said Medical professionals yesterday said that suspected food poisoning deaths revolving around a restaurant at Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 Store in Taipei could have been caused by one of several types of bacterium. Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), an epidemiologist at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, wrote on Facebook that the death of a 39-year-old customer of the restaurant suggests the toxin involved was either “highly potent or present in massive large quantities.” People who ate at the restaurant showed symptoms within hours of consuming the food, suggesting that the poisoning resulted from contamination by a toxin and not infection of the