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.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS