Former Miaoli County commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) has been accused of abusing public funds to secure overseas trips for unrelated officials to consolidate local political networks, with nearly NT$30 million (US$975,134) reportedly spent on 42 excursions in Liu’s eight-year tenure, during which the gross debt in Miaoli rose from NT$20.2 billion to NT$64.8 billion.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wu Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) said that Liu, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), traveled overseas on public funds 42 times.
A total of 655 people accompanied him over the course of the trips, which cost NT$29.54 million in travel expenses, Wu said.
Liu defended excursions, saying he traveled to Singapore and Las Vegas, Nevada, to inspect the gambling industry; to Vietnam for a fireworks competition; to China’s Henan Province to discuss a proposed martial arts school; and to China another four times to inspect the Chinese mitten crab industry, Wu said.
During a crab industry inspection, Liu’s entourage of 57 — including eight borough wardens and township mayors, a police chief, a fire department chief and a school principal — spent NT$2.06 million, including on a crab feast in Shanghai, Wu said, raising questions over the relevance of certain members of the delegation.
Borough wardens and township mayors were also present on seven other overseas inspections, visiting nations in Asia and Europe, Wu said.
One excursion through four northern European nations cost NT$2.268 million, Wu added.
Wu said that Liu was using public funds to develop connections with local vote brokers.
The most expensive business travel the county covered in Liu’s tenure was a 30-person, NT$3.01 million tour of Italy in 2011 — costing NT$100,000 per person in expenses on average, Wu said.
The Italian inspection was touristic in nature, and the 17-page post-visit report was mainly about the sightseeing itineraries, while advice to the county government and personal reflections might have been plagiarized from the Internet, Wu said.
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