Legislators are calling for more heads to roll after the Cabinet accepted the resignation of the nation's top representative to the UK, Tien Hung-mao (
The acceptance of Tien's resignation did not come as a surprise. It was widely expected since Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
PHOTO: YEH CHIH-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
It intrigues many, however, that the government chose to admit mistakes it had made a long time ago, particularly when the administrative mistakes, strictly speaking, did not violate the law.
Chen criticized the London office's negligence in issuing a new passport to Yeh on March 17 and granting her six authorization papers allowing real estate transfers on May 27 -- even after the government had provided the office with a list of Wang's family members.
Tien flew back to Taipei two days after Chen's press conference. Arriving at CKS International Airport, he pleaded for an opportunity to explain the whole case, emphasizing that all operations in his office were carried out according to instructions from the central government.
Defending her husband, Tien's wife Kuo Mei-hui (
Lo Chih-cheng (
The Control Yuan and the Minister of Foreign Affairs' separate investigations have proved the London office issued the passport and the legal documents to Yeh although she supplied false information on her passport application form.
While the office's negligence was described as an "administrative mistake," Lo said that according to the law, Yeh as a Taiwanese citizen has the right to apply for a new passport.
Perhaps fearing that her identity as a murder suspect's wife would hinder her application for a passport, Yeh did not write her spouse's name on the application form. However, argued Lo, even though the office knew who she really was, it still had to issue her a passport. "Denying her a passport equates to denying her human rights," Lo said.
With the six authorization papers allowing real estate transfers, Yeh has completed two real estate deals. The other four were blocked after the visa ruckus broke out. "Why didn't investigators stop the first two transfers, knowing Yeh was behind the deals?" Lo asked.
Wang, a former arms dealer, has been wanted since September 2000 in connection with the death of navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (
Tien, the first Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member to become a foreign minister, has never been fully trusted by President Chen Shui-bian's (
It has been known that some of Chen's national policy advisers did not like Tien as a foreign minister, criticizing him for fearing to seek major diplomatic breakthroughs. Close to former president Lee Teng-hui (
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
Taipei on Thursday held urban resilience air raid drills, with residents in one of the exercises’ three “key verification zones” reporting little to no difference compared with previous years, despite government pledges of stricter enforcement. Formerly known as the Wanan exercise, the air raid drills, which concluded yesterday, are now part of the “Urban Resilience Exercise,” which also incorporates the Minan disaster prevention and rescue exercise. In Taipei, the designated key verification zones — where the government said more stringent measures would be enforced — were Songshan (松山), Zhongshan (中山) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts. Air raid sirens sounded at 1:30pm, signaling the
The number of people who reported a same-sex spouse on their income tax increased 1.5-fold from 2020 to 2023, while the overall proportion of taxpayers reporting a spouse decreased by 4.4 percent from 2014 to 2023, Ministry of Finance data showed yesterday. The number of people reporting a spouse on their income tax trended upward from 2014 to 2019, the Department of Statistics said. However, the number decreased in 2020 and 2021, likely due to a drop in marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic and the income of some households falling below the taxable threshold, it said. The number of spousal tax filings rebounded
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
RSS