Taiwan’s top foreign affairs official in Berlin was said to have snubbed Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) during a visit there as part of her Europe trip.
A member of her delegation said Taiwan’s representative to Germany Wei Wu-lien (魏武煉) failed to meet Tsai at the airport or even give her a telephone call, actions normally considered customary for a high-profile trip by the head of the opposition party.
“I have never met this kind of overseas representative,” said Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), the head of the DPP international affairs department that traveled with Tsai. “During this trip, the German representative was completely -indifferent to [Tsai] from start to finish.”
Despite sending an official request for assistance, including help setting up a meeting with several German politicians, the letters were largely ignored, DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said. Instead, the DPP was forced to rely on assistance from overseas Taiwanese groups and German politicians friendly to Taiwan, he added.
Back in Taipei, the allegations of a diplomatic lapse raised concerns among DPP politicians, but Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers said that any courtesy extended to Tsai could be misconstrued as a violation of administrative neutrality.
Foreign affairs officials in Taipei were quick to point out that Wei had a prior commitment to -accompany first lady Chow Mei--ching (周美青) to a Cloud Gate Dance Theatre performance. And on the date of Tsai’s departure, Wei had a meeting with German officials.
Prior to the trip, Wei had invited Tsai to a meal, but received no response, according to officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs.
“[Wei] did not purposely avoid Tsai,” Director-General of European Affairs James Lee (李光章) said.
On the request for assistance, Lee said the German politicians listed by the DPP had timing conflicts and requests for follow-up information from the party were also ignored.
KMT caucus whip Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) suggested that Tsai did not need to be afforded such high-profile treatment by the -representative office as she was not yet officially listed with the Central Election Commission as a presidential candidate despite being nominated by the DPP.
KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) added that using administrative resources to help the DPP would have been a “violation of administrative neutrality.”
Tsai, running for the nation’s top post, should have been clear on this, he said.
However, DPP officials said that former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration had extended a similar courtesy to Lien Chan (連戰), the KMT’s honorary chairperson at the time. In 2005, Lien was personally greeted by then-Taiwan’s representative to Germany, Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉), Chen said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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