The Presidential Office has not received an application from former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) for a planned visit to the US next month, but such a request would be processed in accordance with regulations, spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said yesterday morning.
“Any applications for an overseas trip by retired government officials on the classified information regulatory list would be processed and deliberated based on the legislative principles and purposes of the National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) and other laws,” Huang said.
Wu’s office on Wednesday evening announced that he had been invited by the Taiwan Benevolent Association of America to attend its annual meeting late next month.
According to the preliminary itinerary released by his office, Wu is due to visit Boston from Sept. 23 to Sept. 25 and given an opening keynote speech at the association’s meeting.
“We will submit the application documents to the Presidential Office for approval when they are ready,” Wu’s office said, adding that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), a former Taipei mayor, has been invited to speak at the meeting.
Other prominent guests are former National Security Council secretary-general Hu Wei-chen (胡為真) and former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強).
Under Article 26 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act, Wu must obtain approval for his US visit from the government body where he used to work.
The article stipulates that people who exercise the original classification authority, handle classified information within the scope of their official duty, retire or resign from the official positions mentioned in the act or have handled the transfer of classified information within three years should obtain prior approval before leaving the nation.
The announcement of Wu’s travel plans came about two months after former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) request to make an one-day trip to Hong Kong to give a speech was rejected by the Presidential Office on the grounds of national security and the highly sensitive nature of his destination.
Ma delivered his June 15 speech by video instead.
Hau said no one should read too much into the association inviting both him and Wu to attend the meeting and give speeches.
“This is a public event. It is the host organization that decided who to invite. It is not unusual for me and Wu to be invited to attend the same event. The public does not need to speculate about this matter,” Hau said.
Some pundits have seen the invite as a sign the two men are joining hands to impede KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu’s (洪秀柱) potential re-election bid as Wu is reportedly interested in running for KMT chairmanship.
Hung’s term expires in July next year.
Hau said that while he understands the public’s concerns about the KMT’s chairmanship race, the only election he cares about at the moment are the 2018 mayoral and commissioner elections.
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