President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday ordered government officials returning from state visits to go through regular customs clearance, except in cases when sensitive national security matters are involved.
Tsai’s directive came in the wake of allegations that National Security Bureau (NSB) officials tried to smuggle cigarettes into the nation, including at least one member of her security detail who returned with Tsai on Monday from her state visit to the Caribbean.
During a meeting with Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) and National Security Council Secretary-General David Lee (李大維), Tsai said government agencies should cooperate with the investigation into the smuggling allegations, as well as launch an internal probe to ascertain how widespread such actions might be, the Presidential Office said in a statement.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Tsai said that there should be a thorough assessment of whether privileged customs clearance is being abused, the office said.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said none of its employees have been implicated in its preliminary probe into the case.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus also held a news conference to call for Tsai to apologize for the scandal, investigate the incident and hold those culpable accountable.
“Tsai should apologize for such a massive loophole in national security and for the scandal,” KMT caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) said.
If the government fails to take such action, Tseng said that he would assemble a group under the Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee to subpoena files and release them to the public.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) also called for the facts to be released, an apology from Tsai and a complete reshuffle of the NSB.
The Financial Supervisory Commission should also follow the money to piece together “the criminal network,” Lai added.
Customs Administration Deputy Director-General Peng Ying-wei (彭英偉), who was invited to speak at the KMT news conference, said that the matter is being handled by the Ministry of Justice and authorities would get to the bottom of the alleged smuggling racket.
The Customs Administration and the NSB would also reassess the regulations covering privileged customs clearance for government officials and make changes if necessary, Peng added.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
China is attempting to subsume Taiwanese culture under Chinese culture by promulgating legislation on preserving documents on ties between the Minnan region and Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday. China on Tuesday enforced the Fujian Province Minnan and Taiwan Document Protection Act to counter Taiwanese cultural independence with historical evidence that would root out misleading claims, Chinese-language media outlet Straits Today reported yesterday. The act is “China’s first ad hoc local regulations in the cultural field that involve Taiwan and is a concrete step toward implementing the integrated development demonstration zone,” Fujian Provincial Archives deputy director Ma Jun-fan (馬俊凡) said. The documents
RSS