The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday rejected a news report that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) had invited himself to a banquet hosted by overseas Taiwanese compatriots in Japan, saying that the lawmaker was invited by the event’s organizer at the suggestion of the ministry.
“With regard to Chao’s attendance at the compatriot dinner on Tuesday, it was the ministry that suggested the host organization invite Chao to attend, in the hopes of improving the connections and friendly interactions between our nation’s lawmakers and Japan-based Taiwanese compatriots,” ministry spokeswoman Eleanor Wang (王珮玲) said.
A 21-member legislative delegation led by Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) began a four-day visit to Japan on Monday, the itinerary of which was set by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan according to the ministry’s instructions, Wang said.
Legislative diplomacy plays a significant role in the nation’s diplomatic work, one reason that the ministry has been allocating funds to facilitate exchanges between legislators and their counterparts in allied and friendly foreign nations, Wang said.
“Certain expenses for the legislators’ Japan visit are to be covered by the ministry in accordance with past practices and relevant regulations. If necessary, we also send staff to help take care of the delegation to ensure their trip runs smoothly,” Wang said.
Wang was responding to a report published yesterday by the Chinese-language United Daily News that said Chao, who is not a member of the delegation, showed up uninvited with his wife and two children at the banquet at the five-star Westin Tokyo.
Taiwanese compatriots were required to shoulder the cost of meals for the lawmakers and their family members, nearly ¥20,000 (US$197.70) per person, so each of them ended up paying more than ¥30,000 in “attendance fees,” the newspaper said.
Chao yesterday said on Facebook that as he is traveling with his family and had arranged personal events in Japan, he decided to pay for his own expenses when joining a trip arranged by the Kaohsiung City Council, instead of signing up for the legislature’s publicly funded tour.
“Prior to our trip, all tour members and their families more than once confirmed with the representative office in Japan that we were all invited to the banquet,” Chao said, adding that the report was a “misunderstanding.”
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan also issued a news release rebutting the report, saying that each lawmaker, city councilor and family member who attended the dinner was on the guest list.
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