Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Saturday defended appointing his aide Vincent Chao (趙怡翔) as head of the political division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington amid accusations of nepotism.
Chao was criticized after Wu announced his appointment, with some saying that he had not taken an examination for diplomatic personnel.
Others questioned whether the 30-year-old has the experience required for the post, which reportedly has a basic monthly salary of NT$240,000, saying that he was appointed only because of his close ties to Wu.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Wu said many foreign representatives praised Chao’s performance when he worked as his office director.
“Chao is my most important aide” and he is qualified for the position, which requires him to communicate with US officials, Wu said, adding that Chao’s salary complies with official standards.
American Institute in Taiwan political section chief Christian Marchant wrote on Chao’s Facebook page, calling him “a good friend” and telling him to “hang in there.”
Taipei City Councilor Lee Ming-hsien (李明賢) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said the appointment disrupts the nation’s civil servant cultivation system.
If the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wants to promote young people, it can find qualified people from within the established civil servant system for diplomatic service, Lee said.
“The DPP claims it attaches importance to the promotion of young people, when in fact it manifests its distrust of the traditional civil servant system,” he added.
Chao on Friday wrote on Facebook that his monthly salary is NT$150,000 after deducting expenses, and expressed the hope that people would give him an opportunity to prove himself.
He also listed his work experience, which includes working as a reporter at the Taipei Times, and being a member of the Thinking Taiwan Foundation established by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and the DPP’s international affairs department.
However, Internet users were divided in their responses, with some expressing support for Chao, while others accused the DPP of nepotism.
Additional reporting by staff writer
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
RSS