President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has been paying the air force for flights taken aboard Air Force One to campaign sites, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
Chen, who has paid for several flights around the country over the past two months, is not the only government leader to be charged.
Both Vice President Annette Lu (
As of Nov. 10, the air force has received NT$88,205 from the offices of Chen, Lu, Chang and others for the unofficial flights, the ministry said.
The money includes fees paid by first lady Wu Shu-chen (
According to government regulations, Air Force One is to be used primarily by the president, vice president and premier.
Wu's usage of the plane became a matter of concern yesterday at the ministry's weekly press conference.
Wu has taken the plane at least twice to campaign stops in the last two months.
Major General Li Sheng-wei (李聖偉), a department chief with the office of the deputy chief of general staff for logistics, defended Wu by saying that former US first lady Hillary Clinton took an air force transport plane to New York to campaign for then-vice president Al Gore during the run up to the US presidential election last year.
"Hillary Clinton was given the use of a C-21 transport aircraft. Accompanying her were officials with the Democratic Party and campaign aids. They all paid for the flights," Li said.
Although Wu is not legally described as being eligible to use Air Force One, Li said that there should be flexibility in how the plane is used.
Li explained that Chen and other government leaders are charged according to the current ticket price for an economy-class passenger on a civil aviation plane.
"Rules for how Air Force One is used and on charges for trips unrelated to official business were worked out last May, shortly after the president was inaugurated," Li said.
"We did not have these kinds of rules before. The rules were made under the request of Chief of the General Staff General Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明). He gave the order last March and we worked out the rules within two months," he said.
"The rules are basically based on a US model.
"[The campaign has been] the first time that the rules have been put to use since they were put into force last May," he said.
Under the rules, body guards or Cabinet members who travel with Chen are not required to pay for their flights, Li said.
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