Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) yesterday accused President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of squandering taxpayers’ money after Chinese-language media reported that she used government funding to pay for a “fancy meal” at a French restaurant.
Alex Tsai said on Facebook that food seems to be all the president cares about since taking office on May 20.
“First, Tsai Ing-wen has been spending NT$60,000 each month in taxpayers’ money to hire a personal chef. That amount does not include overtime pay and bonuses,” Alex Tsai said.
“Now, the president has caused a dent in the budget of the Hakka Affairs Council after her recent visit to Miaoli County, during which she and dozens of high and low-level government officials gobbled down a fancy meal that cost thousands of New Taiwan dollars per person — using taxpayers’ money, again,” he added.
Alex Tsai was referring to a report published by the Chinese-language Apple Daily on Saturday, which said that the president and her aides spent an estimated NT$30,720 to NT$49,920 at a French restaurant in Miaoli’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and let the council foot the bill using funds allocated to it by the government.
Late last month, Chinese-language media also reported that Tsai Ing-wen had hired a personal chef to prepare meals for her and foreign dignitaries.
Tsai Ing-wen pays the cook’s salary out of her own pocket, the Presidential Office said.
Dismissing the Apple Daily report as running counter to reality, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) later on Saturday said Tsai Ing-wen went to the restaurant to attend a forum with Miaoli residents who started their own businesses in the county after spending some time overseas to learn new skills and technologies.
“The owner recently opened the restaurant selling French food infused with Hakka elements after sharpening his culinary skills at Le Cordon Bleu in France,” Huang said.
Huang said that the people who organized the forum initially wanted to pay the bill, but the council believed that since the event helped the president learn about Miaoli’s local industrial development, the meals should be paid for using the council’s special responsibility allowance.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) on Saturday night said on Facebook that it is meaningful for a government agency to use its special responsibility allowance to encourage youth entrepreneurship.
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