Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (
Since that time, he said, the ministry has had no business relations with the company.
Huang made the remarks while fielding questions from legislators at the legislature's Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee meeting.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Jih-chu (李紀珠) cited a story published in the Chinese-language China Times two weeks ago which said that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had revealed to prosecutors that he had paid for Presidential Office contracts with Cassidy & Associates using money from the special state affairs fund.
Lee asked Huang if he knew about the matter and, if so, who had paid the lobbying firm.
Huang did not answer Lee's question directly, saying only that the ministry signed contracts with 14 US public relation companies and all the expenses were allocated through the official budget, and came to about NT$100 million (about US$2.9 million).
"According to the US lobbying laws, PR firms have to display information on clients on their Web sites. Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has transparent relations with US PR firms," Huang said.
Since the ministry has paid for these PR expenses, Lee asked why the Presidential Office had to pay Cassidy & Associates' fees out of the Presidential Office expense fund.
In response, Huang said the ministry did not hire Cassidy & Associates and has never dealt with that PR firm.
He added that he could not make any comment on diplomatic affairs conducted through the Presidential Office.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS