GIO chief, legislators trade barbs

A shouting match erupted on the legislative floor yesterday as Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) traded barbs over the issue of whether the government had paid for news reports to promote administrative propaganda.

During a legislative interpellation, Sun asked Shieh, who heads the Government Information Office (GIO), to specify government funding in news coverage touting the administration's achievements.

He then urged Shieh to get rid of things that "my party and your party feel ashamed of," to which Shieh replied that the KMT has been disgraceful "for so long."

"You should be ashamed because the KMT killed people and stole national assets," Shieh said.

Angry, Sun asked Shieh about the relevance between the KMT's assets and his question on the GIO's strategy to promote government policy.

The verbal exchange then turned into a shouting match, with each accusing the other of being "unreasonable."

KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) stood up to defend Sun and started yelling at Shieh.

Sun told Shieh to "shut up."

"Only my mom can tell me to shut up," Shieh said.

Sun then turned his attention to Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), who was also at the session, and shushed Shieh when the latter tried to speak.

This was not the first time that heated words had been exchanged on the legislative floor between Shieh and KMT legislators.

Last October, Shieh and KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) also engaged in a shouting match after Shieh interrupted Ting's interpellation of the premier by accusing Ting of "threatening Taiwan on behalf of China."

In another interpellation session one week later, KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yelled and told Shieh to leave the podium 17 times.