Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) yesterday denied he violated regulations when he gave students, teachers and alumni of his alma mater a tour of government buildings and treated them to a lavish meal using taxpayer money.
A report in the Chinese-language Apple Daily alleged that Yang arranged for a group from National Chengchi University — his and Vice President Vincent Siew’s (蕭萬長) alma mater — to visit as part of anniversary celebrations of its department of diplomacy last October.
According to the report, Yang took the group on a tour of the state-run Taipei Guest House and the Presidential Office before returning to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, where they were treated to a dinner catered by a hotel.
Government officials from as many as four agencies were involved in running the event, with tasks ranging from receiving guests to taking pictures and acting as tour guides, the report said. The newspaper said the event had left some officials “disgruntled.”
Yang said the article appeared to be the result of a misunderstanding, which he called “regrettable.”
Permission for the entire event, he said, was carefully applied for ahead of time and everything was done according to regulations.
“Many of the attendees were foreign affairs and international relations professors,” he said. “We wanted to show [our] respect to the teachers … and to thank them for training future foreign affairs officials.”
He said the request to visit the Taipei Guest House, which is normally off limits to the public, were made through official channels.
“Any public organization can make the same request for a tour,” he said.
Also speaking on the matter, ministry spokesman James Chang (章計平) said about 50 groups of civilians had visited the Taipei Guest House last year alone.
“It’s quite normal,” he said.
The historical building was completed in 1901 in Renaissance style under Japanese -governor-general Kodama Gentaro.
Unsatisfied with the explanations, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the incident was reminiscent of a recent controversy involving Air Force General Lei Yu-chi (雷玉其), who was removed from his post last week after news reports that he had mobilized dozens of service personnel to serve at his son’s wedding, which was held at the Air Force Officers and Soldiers Recreation Center in downtown Taipei.
“If this isn’t a remake of the Lei Yu-chi [controversy], then what is it?” Tsai said in the legislature, adding that Yang should be investigated by the Control Yuan to determine whether he broke any laws.
“Treating the [group] only benefited himself and fails to make a distinction between the public and private [interests],” Tsai said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Shuai Hua-ming (帥化民), who sits on the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, defended Yang and downplayed the allegations.
Although Shuai later conceded that the minister’s behavior might have been inappropriate, he said likening it to the Lei controversy was meaningless.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN AND FLORA WANG
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it