Some Control Yuan members came under fire yesterday after it was revealed that they had embarked on an all-expenses paid tour of Chinese airports last week as part of a special report on the competitiveness of Taiwanese airports.
Describing the Wednesday to Saturday visit as “wasteful,” the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) questioned the relevance of including Shanghai’s Hongqiao and Pudong airports in the study.
“Both these airports are in the bottom half of international airport rankings,” DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said. “I don’t see the point of comparing Taiwan’s airports with lower-quality airports ... it’s a waste of resources.”
Another question was why the two airports were the first overseas facilities to be looked at by the Control Yuan members, given their lack of similarity with airports in Taiwan, Gao said.
“We think that while this was a fake inspection, it was a real vacation,” Gao told a press conference.
Media reports have also quoted government officials who participated in the trip as expressing surprise the three would make Hongqiao and Pudong their first overseas stops.
Officials from the Civil Aeronautics Administration were “surprised” to learn about the China trip, the Central News Agency reported. Ministry of Transportation and Communications officials that were asked to plan the trip said they were unsure about its purpose.
However, the three Control Yuan members, Chen Yung-hsiang (陳永祥), Chao Chang-ping (趙昌平) and Hung Te-hsuan (洪德旋), maintain the visits were legitimate.
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport recently experienced a series of problems, including repeated flooding, power outages and criticism over its poor and outdated design. A third terminal is scheduled for construction, while the other two are to be renovated.
The government announced last year that operation of the airport would be turned over to a new state-owned company.
Because Shanghai’s two airports are operated in a similar fashion, Chen said there was “much to be learned” from the tour.
“There are many similarities between the two [airports in Shanghai] and the two airports in the Taipei area,” he said. “We were seeking an understanding of the competitiveness of [China’s] airports.”
However, critics said the tour violated the guiding raison d’etre of the watchdog body.
“[The Control Yuan] is now [actively] studying matters outside the country,” DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said. “It’s a mess ... they might as well close up shop.”
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