Deputy Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) yesterday admitted his ministry is the No. 1 government department when it comes to receiving gifts, lobbyists and invitations to banquets, but added that the figures represent the ministry’s strict adherence to laws requiring all such activities to be documented.
A report released by the Ministry of the Justice (MOJ) on Thursday showed the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) received more gifts, lobbyists and banquet invitations than any other government institution from August last year to March.
According to the report, the MOI received more than 12,000 gift items in the past six months. The Veterans Affairs Commission ranked second with a little more than 2,000 gifts. Some other agencies, including the Mainland Affairs Council and the Council for Economic Planning and Development, registered no gifts at all, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received only one gift in the past six months.
The MOI registered more than 10,000 instances of lobbying, followed by the MOJ with more than 6,600, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) with 2,200 and the Ministry of National Defense with only two. A total of 21 government agencies — including the Presidential Office — reported no lobbying at all.
Over the past six months, officials at the MOI and its affiliated agencies accepted more than 8,500 banquet invitations, the MOF 3,300 and the MOJ 670.
Chien said that despite the high figures there is no indication that the MOI has broken the law in any way.
“Some media outlets have chosen to run with headlines that characterize the MOI as the ‘champion in accepting gifts,’ but that is misleading,” Chien told a press conference yesterday morning. “Maybe they should have said the MOI is ‘No. 1 at returning gifts,’ because we returned all 12,000 gift items after registering them.”
He added that since the MOI is in charge of services that directly impact people’s lives, such as the National Police Agency and the National Fire Agency, it is perfectly normal that people might want to give gifts as a sign of their appreciation.
“However, because public servants are not allowed to take gifts, so they are handed in to the ethics office and then returned,” Chien said.
He said that the large number of banquets attended by ministry officials were those hosted by civic organizations, since the MOI is responsible for such groups.
Chien said the ministry also registers all meetings with lobbyists, “but registering them does not mean that we approve of them.”
“According to the law, we have to register all gifts, lobbying and banquet invitations — the large numbers are simply an indication that we accurately record everything,” he said.
When asked by reporters if he was suggesting that other government agencies failed to do so, Chien declined to comment.
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