The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it had communicated with a “high-level US official” about the detention of a Taiwanese diplomat in Missouri and has demanded her release.
Jacqueline Liu (劉姍姍), director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Kansas City, was arrested on Friday by the FBI, charged with foreign labor fraud.
The matter has ruffled feathers in Taiwan because the US and Taiwan signed an agreement on privileges, exemptions and immunities in 1980. The agreement states that Taiwanese diplomatic personnel are immune from lawsuits and legal process relating to acts performed within the scope of their authorized functions.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said that even though the two countries differ over the definition of “the scope of authorized functions,” the US did not need to handle the affair with “such a manner and attitude.”
He said that the ministry was demanding Liu’s release and said it would also begin an internal investigation of Liu’s alleged crime of grossly underpaying her Philippine maid, taking away her passport and forcing her to work -excessively long hours.
The charges carry a possible five-year sentence in a US federal jail.
Yang said the TECO in Kansas City was not the only de facto Taiwanese consulate to have hired foreign laborers in the US, and he also said that it was TECO and not Liu who signed the employment contract with the Philippine worker.
Yang said Representative to the US Jason Yuan (袁健生) talked about Liu’s arrest with a senior US official on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Hawaii.
Discussing the matter, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday that the detention was irrelevant to Washington’s policy on Taiwan.
While the ministry maintains that Liu should enjoy diplomatic immunity under an agreement on privileges, Wu said that immunity does not apply to a diplomat’s personal affairs.
Liu has been charged with violating federal law because she forced her housekeeper to work long hours and paid her far less than the amount promised in her employment contract.
Federal prosecutors say the defendant is believed to be the first foreign representative to face such charges in the US.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS