The nation's top representative to Britain, Tien Hung-mao (
Tien, a former foreign minister, and his subordinates in the UK office have come under attack for approving the passport application of Yeh Hsiu-chen (
After a closed-door meeting with Chen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tien, who has tendered his resignation, told reporters: "The ministry has formed a task force to investigate the case. All our office can do now is to wait for the results of the investigation and accept them."
PHOTO: CNA
"The ministry is looking into the case. I would not offer any conclusions about the investigation. I hope you [the media] will not jump to any conclusions either," he said. "The ministry will carefully examine the case."
During his 90-minute meeting with Chen, Tien said he "offered sincere answers to all the questions Chen asked," and explained all the circumstances behind the issuing of the passport to Yeh.
Chen, who emerged from the meeting with Tien by his side, praised Tien for his "courage" in offering to resign but declined to say whether the ministry would accept the resignation.
"We must first clarify who is responsible for this negligence before deciding who should go," Chen said.
The possible roles of Tien and former foreign minister Eugene Chien (
INSTRUCTIONS
Tien, who returned to Taipei late on Sunday night, said on arrival at CKS International Airport that his office had issued Yeh a passport after obtaining instructions from the central government.
An earlier incident in February last year, in which the British office issued documents granting power of attorney to a lawyer for Wang in a libel lawsuit filed against national policy advisor Hsieh Tsung-min (
Control Yuan members Ma Yi-kung (
They said the Control Yuan's special task force investigating the tainted purchase of French Lafayette-class frigates in the early 1990s will require the ministry to surrender all documents Wang supposedly signed that are held by the British office.
The issuing of those notarization papers has been described as the British office's first serious lapse. The office issued the papers to Wang on Feb. 5 last year. Wang was required to sign one of the documents in person at the office. On May 9 last year, the task force demanded the office send that document to investigators to check whether the signature was genuine.
The office provided investigators with some documents that Wang had supposedly signed but also claimed that Wang had taken the document he signed at the office away with him.
collusion
Control Yuan member and task force convenor Chao Jung-yao (
"The task force will interview Tien as well as other officials in order to find out the truth of the matter," Chao said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus leader Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) yesterday called on Premier Yu Shyi-kun to request that the Dominican Republic cancel Wang's Dominican passport.
Yu will start a 12-day trip to the Dominican Republic on Aug. 12 and attend the inauguration of president-elect Leonel Fernandez on Aug. 16. It is believed that Yu may also visit Nicaragua and Honduras, with transit stops in the US.
Chen Chien-ming made the appeal during a press conference yesterday morning. Afterwards, he visited the Control Yuan to request the government's watchdog launch an investigation into the matter.
According to Chen, Wang's Republic of China passport has expired, though he retains his Dominican Republic passport and a US green card.
additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
FLU SEASON: Twenty-six severe cases were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, including a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said. Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period
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
HOSPITALITY HIT: Hotels in Hualien have an occupancy rate of 10 percent, down from 30 percent before the earthquake, a Tourism Administration official said The Executive Yuan yesterday unveiled a stimulus package of vouchers and subsidies to revive tourism in Hualien County following a quake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. The tremor on April 3, which killed at least 17 people and left two others missing, caused the county an estimated NT$3 billion (US$92.7 million) in damages. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is to issue vouchers worth NT$200 at the price of NT$100 for purchases at the Dongdamen Night Market (東大門夜市) in Hualien City to boost spending, a ministry official told a news conference after a Cabinet meeting in Taipei. The ministry plans to issue 18,400