Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英), the former information division acting director at the nation’s representative office in Toronto who on Monday admitted he wrote a number of articles smearing Taiwan and Taiwanese, yesterday revealed that he once handed over confidential papers regarding the assassination of writer Henry Liu (劉宜良) to Liu’s wife.
Liu, a vocal critic of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) also known by his pen name Chiang Nan (江南), was assassinated at his home in California in 1984 in what many believe was a political murder. He was most famous for writing an unauthorized biography of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
In an interview with TVBS aired yesterday, Kuo told the story about the Chiang Nan case in a bid to prove that he had been a “patriotic person,” in response to the criticism he has received over the articles written under the pen name Fan Lan-chin (范蘭欽).
Kuo said that he revealed confidential government information to Liu’s family after the murder when he was a Government Information Office (GIO) official stationed in New York.
“What I did at that time betrayed the government … During the authoritarian era, the government killed a man. It should not do that. In terms of administrative ethics, Kuo Kuan-ying violated ethics rules. But in terms of high moral standards, he was patriotic and he did that for the good of the country,” Kuo said in the interview.
Tsui Jung-chih (崔蓉芝), Liu’s widow, later yesterday confirmed Kuo’s remarks when she was contacted by TVBS. Tsui said she was given some information by Kuo after the death of her husband in which she learned how the government planned to deal with her.
In the interview, Kuo said that the Fan Lan-chin incident had forced him to “come out of the closet politically.”
“Over the past 20 years, I have been patriotic while keeping my identity hidden,” he said. “After the [Fan Lan-chin incident], I am forced to be patriotic using my real name.”
Kuo said that his “biggest wish in the remainder of his life was to live in a stable province of Taiwan unified with China.”
The GIO on Monday issued Kuo two demerits and relieved him of his civil servant status for his “inconsistent” explanations to the GIO on whether he was Fan and a series of remarks he made to the media that the GIO considered a “declared defiance of the government.”
Kuo was not disciplined for the articles written under the pen name that smeared Taiwan and Taiwanese.
GIO Personnel Office Director Kuo Cheng-sheng (郭忠聖) said yesterday that whether the freedom of speech of civil servants should be compromised because of their post should be determined by the Judicial Yuan’s Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries and not the GIO.
Kuo Kuan-ying said in the TVBS interview that the GIO had punished him out of “political concerns,” but added that he did not harbor resentment against the GIO for taking disciplinary action against him.
“I didn’t feel that I lost too much [because of the incident]. I lost my pension and my position, but I earned the country a big advantage and earned myself a reputation … This is a reward for me as a Chinese. I do not blame anyone. I am very satisfied,” he said.
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