The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Friday its representative office in Switzerland showed poor judgment in handling a letter requesting judicial assistance in a case of alleged money laundering involving members of the former first family.
An official from the ministry was referring to the representative office’s method of forwarding the letter from the Swiss authorities to MOFA. The official said that the representative office received the letter, dated June 16, early last month but the correspondence did not reach MOFA until late last month.
George Liu (劉寬平), Taiwan’s de facto representative to Switzerland, the Central News Agency said that the Swiss Department of Justice sent the letter to his office via ordinary mail and did not mark it as confidential.
Liu said he therefore forwarded the letter to MOFA via the ordinary mailing process, but unfortunately, it missed the weekly post and was delayed for another week.
In the letter, Swiss authorities requested judicial assistance in probing a case of possible money laundering by former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) son Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚).
The MOFA official said that the ministry, after listening to the explanations offered by Liu and other staff members, concluded that the letter had not been deliberately delayed, but that the representative office had shown a “lack of political judgment.”
The ministry announced late on Friday night that Liu would be replaced by Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Hsieh Fa-dah (謝發達).
Liu, a former Taiwan Solidarity Union legislator, offered to resign in June and tendered a written resignation to Foreign Affairs Minister Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) late last month.
Other personnel reshuffles included the appointment of former representative to Fiji Liu Fu-tien (劉富添) as the new representative to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representative to Mongolia Liu Chih-kung (劉志攻) as the representative to the Czech Republic and director of Taipei Liaison Office in Johannesburg Lee Ming-liang (李明亮) as the representative to Turkey.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
Taiwan and its Pacific ally Tuvalu on Tuesday signed two accords aimed at facilitating bilateral cooperation on labor affairs, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The governments inked two agreements in Taipei, witnessed by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and visiting Deputy Tuvaluan Prime Minister Panapasi Nelesone, MOFA said in a news release. According to MOFA, the agreements will facilitate cooperation on labor issues and allow the two sides to mutually recognize seafarers’ certificates and related training. Taiwan would also continue to collaborate with Tuvalu across various fields to promote economic prosperity as well as the well-being of their
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious