No official records could prove the late Soong Mayling (宋美齡) bribed then US president Franklin Roosevelt to side with China against Japan during World War II, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) said yesterday.
On Saturday, former president Lee Teng-hui (
During a legislative session attended by Chien yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chang (章孝嚴) said Lee's "attack on Madame Chiang" had greatly saddened him.
Chang said as a Chiang family member, he was very dissatisfied with what he described as Lee's "false and immoral" remarks.
Chang is the illegitimate son of the late president Chiang Ching-kuo (
Last Saturday, Lee said he would unveil "a history the public have not known" about Madame Chiang. He said Madame Chiang, knowing many of Roosevelt's relatives had been conducting business in China, offered a lot of "benefits" to them when she traveled to the US, although he did not provide dates or further details.
Chang said Lee's remarks were an attempt to "distort history" and he demanded Chien clarify the matter by searching the ministry's records.
Chien agreed to give a report to the legislature next month on Soong's contribution to the Republic of China's diplomatic ties with the US.
He said, however, that the ministry could not decide whether Lee's allegation was true.
"I didn't know on what evidence Lee based the accusation," he said.
Chien also told lawmakers that there was no need for the ministry to clarify Lee's remarks because they were his "personal opinion."
People First Party Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) said he was worried that Lee's "unkind and sharp" remarks would damage the Taiwan-US ties that he said had already been endangered by President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) recent pro-independence moves.
Lee also insulted Roosevelt by accusing Madame Chiang of giving him bribes, said KMT Legislator Sun Kuo-hwa (
Chien said that the US has not officially protested over Lee's comments and he reiterated the ministry's appreciation of Madame Chiang's diplomatic efforts.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
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Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
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