The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is sending a seven-person team to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to investigate claims that a Taiwanese diplomat killed himself after being pressured to approve a US$400,000 refurbishment of his boss’ official residence, the ministry said yesterday.
The team — which includes civil servants from the ministry’s ethics and budget, and accounting departments, would depart on Sunday and spend seven to nine days questioning personnel regarding the apparent suicide of Felix Wang (王之化), ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said.
Wang, a section chief at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Sao Paulo, fell to his death from his 16th-floor residence on March 10.
Photo: CNA
The team is to release the results of its probe within a month of returning to Taiwan, Liu said.
Yu Hui-min (俞惠敏), Wang’s widow, accused Sao Paulo office head Feng Kwang-chung (馮光中) of pressuring Yu into signing off on a US$400,000 refurbishment of Feng’s official residence in Brazil.
Feng threatened to frame Wang for embezzlement after Wang did not immediately approve the expenditure, Yu said.
The abusive work environment under Feng might have been instrumental in Wang’s decision to take his own life, she said, adding that Feng was attempting to spin a narrative that Wang had depression.
Earlier yesterday, Yu’s older sister filed a defamation lawsuit on Yu’s behalf against Feng with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大?) said in a legislative session earlier this month that all expenses relating to the refurbishment of Feng’s residence were approved in June last year, one month before Wang took up his post in Sao Paulo.
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
RSS