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.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS