Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流) illegally asked one of its drivers to deliver chemicals, but refused to take responsibility after the driver was injured by the alkaline liquid, Logistical Labor Rights Self-help Association chairman Tseng Yu-cheng (曾堉誠) said yesterday.
The company on Nov. 3 last year asked an employee surnamed Tai (戴) to deliver 10 barrels of silane — a flammable alkaline substance — from Pingtung County’s Chaojhou Township (潮州) to Sinyuan Township (新園) without telling him what the cargo would be, Tseng said at a news conference on behalf of Tai, adding that the company did not even have a license to deliver the dangerous substance.
Later, when Tai was moving one of the barrels, chemicals spilled out, injuring his face and other parts of his body, Tseng said, adding that Tai has been diagnosed with the skin disease rosacea.
When Tai sought occupational injury compensation from the Ministry of Labor, the ministry rejected his application because it chose to believe a “false” document presented by the company, Tseng said.
In a transcript of a conversation between the company and two customers that Tseng showed at the news conference, the cargo was described as fodder for pigs, rather than a dangerous substance.
However, the accounts of the two recipients, surnamed Chien (簡) and Sung (宋), were false, as they had conspired with the company, Tseng said.
Tai said he had worked at the company for about 14 years until he resigned in September this year, lamenting the company’s indifference to his grievance.
“All I want is the truth,” Tai said, adding that the ministry should have probed deeper into the case before reaching a conclusion.
Tai presented a response by the ministry’s Bureau of Labor Insurance dated Oct. 20.
After consulting dermatologists, the bureau concluded that Tai’s skin condition had emerged three years ago and therefore could not have been caused by the spill, the letter said.
Tai could file an administrative appeal within 30 days if he is not satisfied with the bureau’s decision, it added.
Tseng and Tai, who said the bureau had made a rash judgement, yesterday submitted a petition to the Executive Yuan urging it to launch a new investigation into the case.
Tai in September pressed charges against the company for alleged document forgery at the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office, Tseng said, adding that they would seek help from the Legal Aid Foundation to file an administrative appeal against the bureau.

The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of

Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading

‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to