A fully independent panel would lead an investigation into alleged workplace bullying reported by late deputy trade representative Yen Huai-shing (顏慧欣), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday.
Yen died on March 12 at the age of 53.
Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said Yen took medical leave in September last year and submitted her resignation at the beginning of this month.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The media reported that Yen mentioned workplace bullying in her resignation letter, while a friend of Yen’s father submitted a letter to the media alleging that Yen had “fallen out of favor” with chief trade negotiator and Minister Without Portfolio Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮) soon after taking up her post, including an incident in which she was excluded from a meeting.
After participating in the work of the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN), Yen grew increasingly concerned, media quoted the letter as saying.
The government’s repeated public statements about joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) were met at the implementation level with a passive, perfunctory approach, and lacked concrete plans or timelines, Yen was quoted as saying in the letter.
“Over the past year and a half, I have made multiple suggestions, but not only were they not adopted, they were even harshly rejected,” it added.
Cho said Yen was a highly regarded official with expertise in international affairs and economic law, and her death is a loss to the nation.
The Executive Yuan would examine whether issues raised in Yen’s resignation letter contravened the Public Servants’ Safety and Health Protection Act (公務人員安全及衛生防護辦法), he said.
The investigation must be impartial and professional, and should not disrupt the OTN’s daily operations, he added.
The case also underscores the need to review the OTN’s structure and workload, given the high-pressure nature of its work, Cho said.
“We hope to provide clear answers to Yen’s family and maintain public trust,” he said.
Yen’s family has declined the government’s First-Class Meritorious Service Medal and related compensation.
Focusing solely on whether bullying occurred would not address deeper structural problems, her family said, calling for reforms to ensure that efforts to join the CPTPP are substantive.
They also urged the government to establish a system to train and retain trade negotiators.
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