The Presidential Office yesterday fought back against recent criticism from the media and opposition politicians that the first family abused its privileges, urging critics to display more "humanity," rather than just engaging in political struggles.
"Mrs. Lo [Shih Li-yun (羅施麗雲)], the former housekeeper of the presidential family, did make some mistakes, but we expect the public to focus on discussing whether to ask the Legislative Yuan to draw up a new law regulating the obligations and rights of the first family," Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-TE, TAIPEI TIMES
"Some politicians, including members of both the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] and the opposition alliance, were just interested in expanding the issue without limits," Su said.
He compared these politicians to sharks smelling blood, and said they could not show a basic sense of humanity concerning the feelings and needs of the wheelchair-bound first lady.
"I think that the public will wonder whether they really want to establish a mechanism of justice or just want to humiliate the first family," Su said.
Local media revealed last week that Lo took advantage of a military official assigned to serve as a driver for the first family.
She had him drive her around on personal business, and even ordered him to clean her house, the papers reported. The National Security Bureau has promised to review the entire security mechanism for the first family and vowed to avoid making the same mistakes again.
The Ministry of National Defense also said that it would suspend the security guard, who is a military noncommissioned officer, before conducting an investigation.
President Chen Shui-bian (
The president expressed his gratitude to Lo, saying that she has spent almost 24 hours a day over the past two decades taking care of his wife, Wu Shu-chen (
"Our family owes a great debt of gratitude to Mrs. Lo," Chen said.
However, some papers published stories the following day saying that the driver's family is actually not poor and that his two children don't seem to have any health problems. Some opposition politicians then accused Chen of telling lies.
Su said yesterday that Chen did his best to honestly express his feelings and demonstrate his sincerity about obeying the law.
"Mrs. Lo has resigned and left the first family, and the Presidential Office admitted that it had made mistakes. This should be the end of the matter," Su said.
He asked the public and opposition politicians to compare their treatment of former first families with how they treat Chen's family
DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chuang (李文忠) said that the controversy surrounding Lo was indicative of how opposition politicians would rather indulge in irrational attacks than take part in any constructive discussion.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by