Control Yuan member Chou Yang-shan (周陽山) is seeking to declassify the results of his investigation that reportedly held former representative to Singapore Vanessa Shih (史亞平) accountable for undermining bilateral relations during her tenure in the city-state because of “dereliction of duty.”
Chou made the remarks yesterday after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appeared to be playing down the charges he brought against Shih in his classified report at a meeting of the Control Yuan’s Committee on Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs on June 20.
Asked to verify the reported allegations against Shih, Chou, via his assistant, said yesterday that he would only comment if the committee decides at a meeting today to declassify the report.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Chou was quoted by the Chinese-language United Evening News as saying that his investigation led to a conclusion that Shih was guilty of “dereliction of duty” and had “affected bilateral relations” between Taiwan and Singapore. Chou reportedly said he had already “pointed out facts” that substantiated the allegations, but that the ministry “did not get to the point.”
In consideration of the “sensitivity” of bilateral relations between Taiwan and Singapore as he was repeatedly told by Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) and Shih during his questioning of the two, her “negligence” was described in the report as being “implicit” rather than overt, the newspaper quoted Chou as saying.
On Monday, the Chinese-language China Times reported the existence of such a report by Chou, refueling the controversy about Shih’s performance during her three-year tenure in Singapore.
As of press time yesterday, little information on the report had been revealed, except for the disclosure of an incident in November last year in which the Taipei Representative Office in Singapore was not invited to a centennial commemoration of the Hsinhai Revolution jointly organized by Taiwan’s National Sun Yet-sen Memorial Hall and its counterpart in Singapore.
On Monday evening, Shih told the media that the incident was the only reason she was charged with dereliction of duty by the ombudsman.
The ministry yesterday continued to throw its support behind Shih, with ministry spokesman Steve Hsia (夏季昌) saying that the bulk of the report was about the absence of staff from the Taipei Representative Office in Singapore at the centennial commemoration of the Hsinhai Revolution.
Echoing what Yang has said about Shih in the past few months, Hsia said the contribution that Shih had made to enhance relations with Singapore “cannot be denied.”
The controversy surrounding Shih started about half a year ago, ranging from questions about her political and diplomatic dealings with Singaporean politicians to personal matters. That was just about the same time that rumors circulated that she was to be transferred back to the ministry to take up the vice minister post.
Despite the widespread rumors, Shih, born in 1962, was promoted to vice minister on June 23, making her the youngest female diplomat ever to assume the post.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) yesterday suggested that the Control Yuan make public part of the report to remove doubts that Shih was promoted because she is a close confidante of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus questioned the necessity of the report being classified “secret” and called for full disclosure of the report.
While the Control Yuan has said the report was classified secret because of concerns it could “damage national interests,” DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said it was ironic that it had declassified its reports on several controversial diplomatic projects during the former DPP administration’s time in office “without concern about Taiwan’s foreign relations.”
“Full disclosure of the report would not damage Taiwan-Singapore relations; instead it would reassure Singapore that Taiwan is taking this matter seriously,” she said.
Chen also said the Control Yuan’s position was inconsistent.
“[The Control Yuan] initially concluded in the report that Shih committed a serious dereliction of duty, but it has now changed its position and says it only recommended that the Executive Yuan impose the necessary punishment on responsible officials,” Chen said.
DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said the ministry endorsement of Shih’s performance from the very beginning was “like a slap in the Control Yuan’s face” and was in contrast to Singapore’s private complaint to Taiwan about Shih’s performance.
People First Party caucus whip Thomas Lee (李桐豪) demanded an explanation from the Ma administration on why Shih was promoted to vice minister when Chou’s investigation against Shih was still ongoing.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
RSS