Family members of diplomat Felix Wang (王之化), who died on March 10 in Sao Paulo, where he had been stationed, yesterday rejected reports that he had had depression.
Wang fell from his 16th-floor apartment in what was reported by Taiwanese media as a suspected suicide.
Wang’s wife, Yu Hui-min (俞惠敏), later accused Feng Kwang-chung (馮光中), the head of Taiwan’s representative office in Brazil, of blaming Wang’s death on clinical depression, saying that Wang had been “bullied by superiors” in Brazil.
Photo: CNA
At a news conference held yesterday by Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Wang’s family presented medical records from the past three years showing that Wang had never been treated for depression.
His family also shared a recent recording in which Wang could be heard saying that he had “never taken a cent of public money.”
Yu said Wang was under extreme stress due to requests to sign off on US$400,000 in expenses used to refurbish Feng’s official residence in Sao Paulo.
Yu said that because of Wang’s reluctance to authorize the expenses, Feng threatened to frame him for embezzlement.
Ying said that Wang, who could speak five languages, was not a person who would act irrationally, and “would only have been pushed to suicide by bullying.”
Ying gave examples of alleged conflict between Feng and Wang, saying that Feng would read, but not respond to Line messages from Wang, and decided at the last minute not to hold a cultural event that Wang had “worked tirelessly to plan.”
Wang’s younger sister said that she had spoken with her brother at Christmas, adding that he had shared pictures of a recent trip with her, and seemed happy.
“It is unbelievable that he would have committed suicide due to depression,” she said.
KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) questioned Felix Wang’s motivation, saying that he had not misappropriated public funds.
“Are officials at the Sao Paulo office being pressured on financial accountability?” she asked.
Wang Hung-wei said Felix Wang had on two other occasions been stationed abroad with no issues, asking how depression could only now have become an issue for him.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it had never publicly suggested that Felix Wang’s death was related to depression.
Minsitry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said the ministry was “deeply saddened by the death of a colleague,” and expressed its condolences to Felix Wang’s family, adding that the ministry would conduct a full investigation.
Asked about the case during a legislative session, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui said that Felix Wang had taken up his post in Sao Paulo in July last year.
However, all expenses relating to the refurbishment of Feng’s residence were officially approved in June the same year, meaning Felix Wang had no connection to the case, Yui said.
It could be about a month before the results of the investigation are made public, he added.
Lawyer Wu Wei-ting (吳威廷) said that while cases of bullying and harassment could result in criminal charges in Taiwan if there was evidence, it is not possible to investigate cases that occur at representative offices in other countries.
However, coercing a civil servant to “perform or not perform certain duties” is a chargeable offense under Article 135 of the Criminal Code, which covers “offenses of obstructing an officer in discharge of duties,” he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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