Taiwan's Vice Premier Chiou I-jen resigns
The official takes responsibility for a scandal over a missing $30 million in secret diplomatic funds.
TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Taiwan's vice premier announced Monday that he would quit his job and resign from the ruling party, taking responsibility for a widening scandal in which $30 million worth of secret diplomatic funds has gone missing.
Chiou I-jen's resignation followed his disclosure late last week that he helped transfer the money to a Taiwanese middleman as part of an attempt to convince Papua New Guinea to drop its official recognition of China in favor of Taiwan.
Since then, the middleman and the money have disappeared.
Taiwanese official: In an article in Tuesday's Section A about Taiwanese Vice Premier Chiou I-jen announcing his resignation, a quote displayed with a photo identified the subject as Chiou. The man in the photo is James Huang, the Taiwanese foreign minister who resigned Tuesday. Chiou is pictured above.
"I feel deeply ashamed in the face of my country and people," Chiou said in a brief statement Monday. Prosecutors have blocked the presidential aide from leaving Taiwan pending a corruption investigation.
Rivals Taiwan and China have for decades competed fiercely to lure and retain countries in their diplomatic camps using aid, trips, infrastructure deals and other incentives, a process sometimes referred to as "checkbook" or "sugar daddy" diplomacy.
In 2006, Taiwan mounted an all-out effort to lure into its camp Papua New Guinea, which has had diplomatic relationships with China since 1976. According to local reports, senior members of Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian's administration, including Chiou, authorized the middleman, named Ching Chi-ju, and an ethnic Chinese named Wu Shih-tsai to route the $30 million to Papua New Guinea for "technical aid programs." The money was deposited into a Singapore bank account held jointly by Wu and Ching.
Taiwan and Papua New Guinea were not able to agree on terms, leading to a breakdown in negotiations within months. But the $30 million reportedly never made it to Papua New Guinea and was never recovered.
Wu has been blocked from leaving Taiwan and faced questioning. Press reports this week indicated there is only about $2,000 remaining in the Singapore account. The loss was only disclosed after a Singapore newspaper reported that legal proceedings were underway to recover the assets.
The scandal has provoked anger and outrage.
"This is a ridiculous situation involving a huge amount of money," said Lin Li-chen, 35, a clerk in Taipei. "There are lots of back-door practices, so I am not surprised this happened. But it's a sad story for Taiwan." While it's unclear whether Chiou's resignation will dampen the public fury, analysts said the scandal reveals deep-seated problems in Taiwan's government structure.
