Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday raised the possibility that staff at Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (
Last Wednesday Ma said the controversy surrounding his special mayoral allowance was the result of an "administrative defect" by Taipei City Government staffer Yu Wen (余文), who substituted receipts for smaller amounts with personal receipts for larger amounts.
DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (
Ma should ask Prosecutor Hou Kuan-jen (
In response, the city government's Secretariat Director Lee Sush-der(
Lee, meanwhile, admitted that the person who gave Kuan the mayor's cash remittance note of NT$15 million (US$455,580) to charity groups last Friday was a member of the Tsai Jui-yueh Dance Foundation.
The individual's behavior was a violation of personal privacy and an insult, said Lee.
But it was up to the mayor whether to sue the individual, Lee added.
Lee added that the city government would not make public the details of Ma's donation, referring to Ma's announcement on Friday night that he would donate the portion of his special allowance fund received over the past eight years to charity.
Kuan, meanwhile, yesterday also accused the city government of forcing Felix Chen (陳秋盛), a former resident conductor and director of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, to retire without further investigation into alleged forgery charges that were brought against him three years ago.
Chen, who was present at yesterday's press conference, said the city government also forced him to copy a retirement report drafted by the city's Department of Cultural Affairs, adding that Ma did not deal with his petition.
In response, Lee said Chen's case was referred to judicial investigation after the city government conducted an internal investigation.
Ma also asked the government to handle the case in accordance with government regulations after Chen pleaded with him, Lee said, adding "it is a personal problem. It has nothing to do with the mayor."
Director of the Cultural Affairs Department Commissioner Sebastian Liao (
Chen was asked to write a retirement report because the department wanted to prevent the public from thinking there was anything untoward about the case, since he had not reached retirement age, Liao added.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if the next president of that country decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said today. “We would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said during a legislative hearing. At the same time, Taiwan is paying close attention to the Central American region as a whole, in the wake of a visit there earlier this year by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lin said. Rubio visited Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala, during which he