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.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS