Publicly funded “overseas investigative trips” taken by Hsinchu and Miaoli county councilors have sparked public outrage, after copies of their short and malapropism-filled reports were leaked online.
On Tuesday, independent Hsinchu County Councilor Yan Yung-chiu (嚴永秋) became the first politician embroiled in the controversy, after his report for a trip to Europe was posted anonymously on the nation’s most popular online bulletin board system, Professional Technology Temple.
In the report, Yan wrote “southern Europe” as the destination of the 13-day trip and only 42 Chinese characters to describe his research findings, five of which were misused.
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times
“My passion for public service is not lessened by my lack of education or writing errors,” Yan said in a statement on Wednesday, confirming the report as genuine.
Yan said he had “honestly forgotten” how much the council subsidized of the trip he and his wife took to Austria, Croatia and Slovenia in April last year.
Miaoli County council candidate Tseng Wen-hsueh (曾玟學) of the New Power Party on Wednesday posted on Facebook a list of county councilors who had turned in reports shorter than five lines or plagiarized travel agency brochures or other councilors after taking trips at the county’s expense.
The councilors made up about 90 percent of the council’s roster, he said.
According to Tseng’s documents, Miaoli County Counselor Lee Hsu-chin (黎旭欽) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) wrote that he had “an excellent trip to Australia that was over in an instant, leaving beautiful memories that I have been reliving in the past days” in his report for a trip he took in March last year.
Miaoli County Counselor Hsieh Fang-wen (謝芳紋) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wrote a one-sentence report for a five day-trip to Hainan, China, taken in March last year, saying that the county government “should encourage meetings of Taiwanese entrepreneurs to share their experiences.”
Lee said he had many thoughts that were not included in the report and apologized if the public is unhappy with his brevity.
Hsieh said she had concisely and accurately reported on her trip.
DPP Miaoli County Councilor Chen Kuang-hsuan (陳光軒), who was not among the councilors Tseng named in the post, said that each councilor is permitted up to NT$100,000 for research and observation abroad.
“Councilors should not make unnecessary trips, and when we do travel, we should furnish itemized lists of expenses and return unused funds, or we are wasting taxpayer money,” he said.
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) hosted a dinner in Taipei last night with key Taiwanese suppliers to celebrate the successful mass production of the company’s new Blackwell AI systems. Speaking to the media earlier yesterday, Huang thanked Nvidia’s Taiwanese partners for their contributions to the company’s ecosystem, while also sharing his plans to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀). In response to rumors that Nvidia will launch a downgraded Hopper H20 chip for China in July, Huang dismissed the reports, saying, “That is not true.” He clarified that there
RSS