Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said that he paid all of the flight, bus fare and match admission costs on a recent trip to Japan, adding that “only the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] and you [the Chinese Nationalist Party, KMT] are upset” about the visit.
Cho attended the World Baseball Classic game between Taiwan and the Czech Republic in Tokyo on Saturday via a charter flight, the first time a sitting Taiwanese premier has visited Japan since Taipei and Tokyo severed formal diplomatic ties in 1972.
Cho on Sunday said it was a personal trip that he paid for out of his own pocket on his day off.
Photo: CNA
Opposition parties have accused Cho of using public resources for personal purposes, demanding to know who paid the bills and asking why the plane took off from the air force Songshan Base Command’s VIP ramp at Taipei International Airport if Cho was in a personal capacity.
During a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan yesterday, Cho asked KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) to clarify her “million-dollar corruption” allegation.
Wang replied: “Are you now attacking because you are guilty yourself?” and said that Cho should provide evidence immediately.
“I can provide the evidence — what will you do then?” Cho said.
“Show it,” Wang said. “If you cannot, then you are the one involved in corruption.”
She asked why China Airlines had not commented on the matter, whether its silence implicated Cho, how much was spent on flight tickets and whether the payment was for individual seats or the entire charter.
China Airlines has commercial concerns, Cho said, adding that the cost was reasonable.
He held up a paper bag and asked Wang: “If the documents inside [the bag] are genuine, will [you] take responsibility?”
Wang said that lawmakers are responsible to the public and that Cho was using an “age-old trick” with the paper bag.
The Executive Yuan should immediately release the documents to put the matter to rest, she added.
Wang said that as the trip had sparked so much criticism, Cho had a responsibility to explain it to the public.
“Only the CCP and you [the KMT] are upset,” Cho replied.
“We are asking questions on behalf of taxpayers — what is wrong with addressing public concerns?” Wang asked.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said that Songshan airport is a joint military-civilian airport, with civilian flights handled by the Civil Aeronautics Administration.
Cho said he had been cautious in planning the trip to Japan.
Although it was a private itinerary, he wanted to avoid complications and not make a fuss, he said.
The opposition-driven furor confirmed that seeking permission from Songshan Base Command was the right decision, he said, adding that if he had used the international terminal at the airport, media coverage could have jeopardized the trip.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han
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