Rumors involving Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Vanessa Shih (史亞平) continued to fly yesterday as the Control Yuan decided not to declassify the results of an investigation into her performance during her service as Taiwan’s representative to Singapore.
Control Yuan members Chou Yang-shan (周陽山) and Ma Yi-kung (馬以工) concluded their investigation of interactions between Shih and the government of the host country during her tenure in the city-state from January 2009 to February this year.
On June 20, the Control Yuan’s Committee on Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs classified the report in accordance with the National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法).
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
However, the Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday published stories based on what it said was an eight-page report that showed Shih was charged with “dereliction of duty” over a case in which staff from the Taipei Representative Office in Singapore were absent from events related to the centennial commemoration of the Hsinhai Revolution.
The events were held in Wan Qing Yuan (晚晴園), previously used by Republic of China founding father Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) as his residence and now a memorial hall in his honor.
Control Yuan members charged former representative office division chief Chang Shih-jui (張詩瑞) with “a major violation of the law” because he refused to cooperate with the investigation, as required by the Control Yuan Act (監察法), the paper said.
The paper added that the cause of tension between Shih and the Singapore government came from the singing of the national anthem and hoisting of the national flag at the Double Ten National Day ceremony last year, which angered the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The reported disclosure of the Control Yuan’s report called into question the rationale for the charges the ombudsmen brought against Shih and the representative office.
At a press conference yesterday afternoon following the committee’s meeting, Chou and Ma both dismissed the United Daily News reports as “speculation” and reminded the press and civil servants that they “could face jail terms” for revealing or leaking classified information.
Chou said he tried to persuade committee members at the meeting yesterday to declassify the report, but the committee decided to uphold the decision reached on June 20.
Citing the National Security Information Protection Act, Chou and Ma declined to answer when pressed by the media to specify what the charges were against Shih.
Media reports of the problems between Shih and the Singaporean government “were not exactly what we discovered in our investigation,” Ma said.
Chou said the Wan Qing Yuan incident was “a small part of the whole investigation” that was launched to understand the total interaction between Shih and Singapore government. His remarks contradicted the United Daily News, which said that a total of five pages of the eight-page report were about the incident.
“We did find the way Shih interacted with Singapore affected bilateral relations between the two countries. It was so serious that we classified the report,” said Chou, who again declined to elaborate.
Ma said the report would not be declassified until June 14, 2022, unless Control Yuan President Wang Chien-hsien decides to declassify it and the committee agrees to its publication in accordance with related articles of the National Security Information Protection Act.
On a political show on SET-TV yesterday afternoon, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) said that some of the rumors about Shih were in connection with former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s (李光耀) son. Lee Kuan Yew was not happy with Shih being too close to his sons and them meeting frequently, Chang said on TV.
Chou, meanwhile, yesterday denied allegations by KMT legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) and other lawmakers of taking revenge on Shih for not treating him well enough when he was in Singapore.
Tsai said Chou demanded the representative office provide him with vehicles and drivers when he was in Singapore for the investigation, adding Chou and his family spent five days in Singapore for travel and only half a day on the investigation.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
RSS