Four former foreign ministers expressed support for Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) yesterday, praising his ability to do the job and lambasting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers for their “impolite and unreasonable” conduct last Monday, when they blocked Ou from reporting to the legislature.
Ou, 68, a career diplomat, was forced to cancel his presentation and leave the committee room last week after DPP legislators took over the speaker’s podium. DPP lawmakers held up placards calling for Ou’s resignation and calling his loyalty into question over his obtaining a US green card when he was ambassador to Guatemala in 2005.
The lawmakers also blocked the door to keep Ou from leaving. Former foreign minister John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, helped Ou push through the crowd.
PHOTO: CNA
“It was very unfair of the DPP to call me a ‘runaway minister’ when it was clear that they were the ones who wouldn’t let me speak. In reality I had already reported to the DPP caucus that very morning prior to the interpellation session, even though it was not required of me,” Ou said, speaking out for the first time since last Monday’s brawl.
“I absolutely did not run away like they said,” he said.
Calling the incident “truly regrettable,” Chiang called the behavior of the DPP legislators “a great insult” to the public that had disappointed the entire nation.
Another former foreign minister, Frederick Chien (錢復) said: “Put yourself in his [Ou’s] shoes and be more considerate.”
“Everyone wants instant results right now. Remember that he has only been minister for 41 days,” Chien said in defense of his former subordinate.
Former foreign minister Ding Mou-shih (丁懋時) praised Ou’s handling of the Diaoyutai incident, in which a Japanese coast guard patrol boat and Taiwanese fishing boat collided in disputed waters last month.
“He not only affirmed Taiwan’s stance on the issue, he was able to do so while maintaining bilateral harmony between two countries and in the region,” Ding said.
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), who headed MOFA from 1997 to 1999, described Ou as “positive, professional and earnest,” adding that Ou’s patriotism was steadfast and that “having a green card does not equate to disloyalty.”
“What official has used a green card to run away?” he asked.
Ou has said he relinquished his US permanent residency shortly after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) asked him to serve as head of the ministry in mid-April.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
RSS