Government officials should behave appropriately even when off duty, as controversial behavior in their private lives could undermine their credibility.
Shortly after a video clip of him drinking and singing with others at a restaurant went viral on Wednesday, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) denied that the clip was filmed during a level 3 COVID-19 alert. The clip was from June 15 last year, when he attended a dinner at a friend’s invitation, he said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) called on ethics officials to probe whether Chen’s actions contravened disease prevention policies that he had himself announced, whether the dinner with businesspeople constituted a conflict of interest and whether some of those involved hold positions in China.
To counter the attacks, the Democratic Progressive Party said that the KMT referring to female dinner guests as hostesses was disrespectful. The video might be part of a Chinese political plot against Chen, it said.
Since the video was leaked by an unknown source, Chen has been exhausting excuses to defend himself, without showing the slightest reflection on his conduct. He seems to forget that as a senior official and the leader of the nation’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, he should answer the public questions, instead of merely countering the KMT’s accusations.
It is true that the banquet happened at a time when the nation mostly only had imported COVID-19 cases. At the time, Taiwan’s case count stood at 445 confirmed infections, including only 55 local cases and seven deaths, Central Epidemic Command Center data showed. Taiwan did not have a particularly severe local outbreak until earlier this year.
However, the video shows Chen drinking with Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co chairman Gou Tai-chiang (郭台強), former 1111 Job Bank executive director Christine Chen (陳曉蓁) and Chen Shih-chung (陳識中), a cardiologist who had allegedly defrauded the Ministry of Health and Welfare for National Health Insurance fees and has been accused of receiving more than NT$12 million (US$431,096) in bribes from medical equipment suppliers.
The health minister said that he did not know the other guests.
After KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) urged him to resign, the minister asked whether the KMT thinks that drinking and singing are enough of an offense to justify that step.
However, it is questionable whether the minister could have attended a banquet without knowing who the other attendees are. If his claim is true, he should blame his office for failing to inform him of any possible conflict of interest. He should also contemplate whether he was careful enough about attending the event.
At the time of the dinner, the minister had the highest ratings among government officials at 93.9 percent, according to a poll conducted by the pan-green think tank Taiwan Brain Trust.
At the time, many people urged him to run in New Taipei City’s mayoral election next year and GQ magazine was about to publish an interview with him, featuring a set of fashionable photos, in its September edition.
It is debatable whether the minister’s behavior runs counter to public expectation and whether an official’s private life should be examined in juxtaposition to their public persona.
However, their behavior, especially when reported by the media, will inevitably affect people’s perception of the policies they promote. Those in power should monitor their behavior more strictly to avoid creating controversies that opponents can use for propaganda.
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