The Presidential Office yesterday dismissed a report that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) allegedly sneered and jeered at Presidential Office Secretary-General Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) over several petty matters and that Liao wanted to leave his post.
Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said Ma and Liao were perfectionists and usually dealt with matters on their own merit.
Their demands for perfection were aimed at making things move more smoothly and effectively, Lo said, adding that Ma did not use any emotional language to “taunt” Liao, as the Chinese-language Next magazine claimed in its latest issue.
The report alleged that Ma had complained about Liao’s recent performance and that an upset Liao was considering quitting.
It said Ma was unhappy that Liao failed to invite former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) to a meeting at the Presidential Office to usher in the New Year, and that the president rebuked Liao over the telephone.
It added that Ma gave Liao a dressing down after first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) complained to the president that she noticed a national flag had slipped down its pole during the Double Ten National Day ceremony on Oct. 10.
Another incident that is alleged to have angered Ma was a shipment of memorial watches — to be given by Ma’s office as presents — that purportedly bore the inscription “Presidential Office” in simplified Chinese.
In response, Lo said Wu was not on the guest list because they did not intend to invite party members. However, a decision was subsequently made to invite more guests, Lo said.
Regarding the flag and watch incidents, Lo said Liao’s attitude toward any problem was to find out what went wrong and make improvements.
He would also establish a mechanism to prevent a repeat of such incidents, he said.
Meanwhile, the magazine also questioned whether Lo had violated a government rule banning civil servants from using social-networking Web sites such as Facebook or Plurk during office hours.
Lo yesterday said he needed to use Facebook for business purposes, adding that he had asked the Ministry of Civil Service whether it would be appropriate for him to do so.
The ministry told him that it would be acceptable to use such platforms as long as it was related to his work, Lo said.
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