Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) yesterday criticized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the inflated fuel expenditure accounts for overseas diplomatic and representative offices and asked the ministry to probe the issue.
Comparing next year’s fuel budgets for the nation’s representative offices in several oil-producing countries in the Middle East, Lee said the fuel budget for the representative office in Saudi Arabia is US$0.2 per liter and US$0.6 per liter for the United Arab Emirates, but in Kuwait it is US$2.3 per liter.
“According to US-based media outlet Bloomberg, the current average price of gas in Kuwait is about US$0.24 per liter,” Lee said. “Apparently, the budget has been inflated to 10 times the actual price.”
In addition, next year’s fuel budget for the representative office in Colombia is US$5.8 per liter, which is nearly six times more than this year’s budget of US$1 per liter, while the current average gas price in Colombia is only about US$1.61 per liter.
Lee added that the fuel budget listed for the representative office in Poland is US$3 per liter, but the local price of gas is only about US$1.66 per liter.
“I understand that fuel prices vary across the US, but I don’t understand why when representative offices in some cities in the US ask for a fuel budget of US$0.95 per liter, the office in Miami asks for US$3.8 per liter?” Lee said. “It seems that some people may be taking advantage of the fuel budgets — the ministry should launch a probe into the issue, and sanction those who have done wrong.”
Ministry spokesperson Steve Hsia (夏季昌) said he would contact the representative offices in question before commenting.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS