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Yao defends ad, behavior

Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Pasuya Yao (姚文智) said yesterday that it is natural for government officials to defend the ruling party's policies, but that names should perhaps not be used when criticizing others.

"I take full responsibility for the full-page newspaper advertisement that the GIO ran a couple of days ago," Yao said at a meeting of a legislative committee.

"But I admit that it was not appropriate for Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] Chairman Ma's [Ying-jeou (馬英九)] name to be mentioned in the ad," Yao said.

CONTROVERSIAL AD

Yao was referring to the GIO's full-page advertisement defending the Cabinet's proposal for a national communication commission (NCC).

The ad said the proposed commission would be a neutral body and avoid politics.

The KMT insists that the commission's membership should be distributed among the political parties based on the number of seats they hold in the legislature.

The ad "requested" Ma's help in keeping the commission non-political, but many viewed the ad as insulting both Ma and the KMT.

"I am a government official who was appointed by the ruling party. I think it is quite natural for me to defend the ruling party's policies. There is nothing wrong with it," Yao said.

`SLACKER' ALLEGATION

In addition to coming under fire over the advertisement, Yao was accused of being a slacker during President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) recent diplomatic mission to allies in Central America and the Caribbean.

According to reports in the Chinese-language media, Yao invited one of the stewardesses on the presidential charter flight out for drinks during the visit to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, and the drinking session went on late into the night.

MISTAKES

The reports said that Yao made mistakes during his press briefings the following day and dozed off dozing during a press conference given by Chen -- actions the reports attributed to his night out.

People First Party Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) asked the GIO chief whether the media accusations were true.

Yao said Lee should not believe the rumors.

"I am embarrassed ... and I apologize," Yao said, in an apparent reference to being caught dozing off.

"As for the drinking part, I have said it many times before that the stewardess is the girlfriend of a good friend. We did not stay up all night, either," he said.
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