Unconvinced by denials issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday continued to criticize Representative to the US Jason Yuan (袁健生) and called on the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Panel (SIP) to launch an investigation into his activities.
“We want the SIP to look into whether Yuan’s expenses were public or private … Even Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) can’t explain this clearly … it shows that the expenses of our overseas representatives are a mess,” DPP spokesperson Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said.
Tsai was referring to remarks made by Yang, who came to Yuan’s defense after DPP Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) on Tuesday accused him of spending the ministry’s money on personal trips, golfing and restaurant meals.
“Golfing is a necessity when [Yuan] is conducting work and visiting [Taiwanese] expatriates … I’d like to ask everyone to look at the matter from a broader perspective and not to be picky with the details such as the number of times golf was played and who footed the bill,” Yang said on Wednesday at the legislature’s Foreign and Defense Committee.
Drawing a comparison with the treatment of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), currently in custody at Tucheng Detention Center, Tsai called on the government to investigate Yuan in the same way they probed Chen’s expense accounts.
“President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration can’t even tell the difference between public and private expenses. So why is it that when they were investigating the former DPP administration’s expense accounts, including secret foreign affairs funds, they chose to make a big deal of even a single NT$30 receipt?” Tsai said.
“It’s clear that an immediate and detailed investigation into this foreign affairs corruption case is needed,” he said, adding that the DPP was concerned the Ma government would attempt to downplay the case.
On Wednesday, Chen also accused Yuan of having a chef working at his Twin Oaks residence, cooking for him and his wife every day. A civil servant who initially worked for two deputy representatives was transferred to Yuan’s residence where he now worked for Yuan’s wife, Chen said.
In response, Yang accused the DPP of making something out of nothing.
“Unless the representative lives in a house purchased with his own money, wherever [the representative] lives is his official residence, and all activities undertaken in said residence are considered businesses. Having a chef and staffers work there is not a violation of regulations,” Yang said on Wednesday.
TECRO also issued a statement dismissing Chen’s allegations.
When asked later by reporters whether Chen’s accusations were based on internal documents from the ministry’s offices in the US, Yang said: “If MOFA staffers have leaked confidential information…they do not deserve to be civil servants.”
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
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