The absence of Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) in recent days has raised eyebrows, but a source close to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday that Yang was on vacation in the US to attend the wedding party of his daughter.
The news drew the ire of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who chided Yang for neglecting his duties.
“It is obvious that this minister cares more about his family than one of our allies in their time of need. This shows that Yang does not have a sense of mission and is completely irresponsible. It is very regrettable that our foreign minister can be so apathetic to Taiwan’s diplomatic affairs,” said DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-lang (蔡煌瑯), a member of the Foreign and National Defense Committee.
The ministry “should be at its busiest” right now because Taiwan was still dealing with the US over the US beef import flap, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) departure on Monday for a trip to Latin America, as well as the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, Tsai said.
The Republic of China embassy in Port-au-Prince was leveled by the quake and Ambassador Hsu Mien-sheng (徐勉生) and Consul Chi Wang-teh (齊王德) both sustained injuries and were buried under the debris for six hours, the lawmaker said. Some reports said Hsu would have to undergo dialysis because of his injuries.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said it was understandable that as a father, Yang would like to attend his daughter’s engagement party, “but work should come first, especially when our ally is in need.”
“This is ridiculous. Yang owes the public a clear explanation as to why he chose to abandon his work during this time of need,” Chen said.
Sources said Yang left for the US on Friday and will return tomorrow. One of his daughters currently works for a bank in Boston.
The ministry has yet to hold a press conference to outline the government’s efforts to help Haiti, while Department of Central and South America Director-General Joseph Kuo (郭永樑) has also been unreachable to the press.
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