Prosecutors were last night looking for Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞), who fueled controversy for failing to cancel a trip to Europe ahead of a major typhoon last week, after she disappeared shortly after landing at Hualien airport.
Kuang attempted to board a plane to Taitung at noon, but the aircraft was forced to return to Taipei because of heavy rain in Taitung. However, after learning that investigators were looking for her to question her about the “nature” of her overseas trips, she changed her plans and flew to Hualien, a Central News Agency report said.
Investigation Bureau officials had earlier detained several members of the group who traveled with her to Europe, including Taitung’s director of social affairs Chen Tai-guo (陳泰國), director of the human resource department Chen Tsung-nan (陳聰男), and education department official Wang Chao-lan (王招蘭), after they landed at Taitung airport, the report said.
PHOTO: CNA
Kuang returned from her trip to Europe yesterday morning, apologizing to residents of Taitung but also protesting her innocence.
“I feel very sad for being unable to spend the night the typhoon hit [the east coast] with residents of Taitung. I feel very sorry for Taitung residents and give credit to the county government staffers [for monitoring the possible impact of Typhoon Fung-wong],” she said at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
But she also defended her decision not to abandon her inspection trip to Europe.
“Taitung has always been helpless. No one sympathizes with Taitung, but I am willing to step up and fight for Taitung’s future. I also hope to increase Taitung’s global visibility,” she said.
Kuang said she undertook inspection trips abroad to provide a better understanding of Taitung’s “depth” and Aboriginal history.
Kuang has been bombarded with criticism from politicians across party lines for taking 10 township heads on the 13-day trip to Europe late last month, despite forecasts that Typhoon Fung-wong was heading for Taiwan and would hit the east coast.
Kuang has also been accused of wasting public funds on several trips abroad. The frequency of her overseas trips — eight in two years — has also raised eyebrows.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday that the party planned to interview Kuang tomorrow to “better understand” the matter.
Wu said Kuang, as the head of the county, should have realized that the job of country commissioners was to serve public interests, he said.
When asked for comment, KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said it was “unquestionably legitimate” for Kuang to take inspection trips abroad, but all city and county chiefs should take the public’s feelings into consideration when planning trips.
In related developments, new Marshall Islands Ambassador Phillip Kabua told reporters during a visit to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) that Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) visited the islands last week at the invitation of their foreign ministry.
Hu had been criticized for leaving for the Marshalls even though he knew Typhoon Fung-wong was approaching Taiwan.
Hu defended himself when he returned home on Sunday, saying that he was making diplomatic efforts for the nation.
Kabua said Hu’s visit would help strengthen bilateral ties.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Department of Culture and Information Director Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) rebutted Hu and Kuang’s claims that they were making trips to promote diplomacy.
“The pair totally neglected their duties of serving their residents as local heads,” Cheng told a press conference.
At a separate setting, DPP caucus whip Chang Hwa-kuan (張花冠) said Hu’s remarks made it sound like “nobody in Taiwan can do diplomacy except him.”
Taichung residents elected a mayor, not a foreign minister, and it was unfair that Taichung residents were unable to find their mayor during the storm,” she said.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang, Ko Shu-ling and Meggie Lu
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