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City officials panned
over China visits
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW: Hau Lung-bin said that many
officials given budgets for foreign inspection tours chose China because of the
common language and cheaper flights
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff Reporter
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors yesterday accused city
officials of visiting China too often and urged Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (°qÀsÙy)
to ensure such trips did not undermine the nation¡¦s dignity by attending
domestic events in China.
Amid frequent cross-strait exchanges, Taipei City¡¦s Department of Education has
listed annual budgets to attend the Network Originality Competition (NOC) for
middle-school students in China, DPP Taipei City Councilor Ho Chi-wei (¦ó§Ó°¶)
said, showing documents from the organizers that described the event as a
¡§national activity¡¨ for schools in China.
¡§Did ¡¥national¡¦ refer to the Republic of China or the People¡¦s Republic of
China? Should Taipei City send officials or students to attend a domestic event
in China?¡¨ Ho asked during a question-and-answer session at Taipei City Council.
Elementary-school students who attended the event have reportedly complained
about being asked by the organizers to sing the Chinese national anthem at the
opening and closing ceremonies, he said.
Department of Education Commissioner Kang Tzong-hu (±d©vªê) said the city¡¦s schools
were invited to attend the event as part of city-to-city relations and added
that schools from China also attended events in Taipei.
The department said the NOC is an annual event organized by the Chinese Ministry
of Education since 2002 to promote informational technology education. Taipei
has been sending teachers and students to the event since 2006.
In response, Hau said the nation¡¦s dignity remained the city government¡¦s top
priority whenever it engaged in cross-strait exchanges.
¡§Taipei City [officials] have attended several events in China such as the
Shanghai World Expo, but that does not mean that we agree Taiwan is part of
China,¡¨ he said.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Kao Chia-yu (°ª¹Å·ì) challenged local borough and
district chiefs over their frequent visits to China, singling out Neihu District
(¤º´ò) chief Chang Jin-chen (±iª÷Âí) for already visited China five times this year.
Chang visited China more than 10 times over the past two years without asking
for leave from the city¡¦s Department of Civil Affairs, as is required by city
regulations, Kao said.
¡§Mayor Hau, you appointed all the district chiefs and I don¡¦t think their over
friendly attitude toward China is positive for the city¡¦s image,¡¨ she said.
Hau said many borough and district chiefs, who are given budgets to engage in
foreign inspection tours, preferred China as a destination because of the common
language and cheaper flights, but agreed that China should not be their only
destination.
¡§I do not necessarily agree with their frequent visits to China, but we need to
respect their decision on where to conduct such inspection tours. We will
discuss the issue and try to strike a better balance,¡¨ he said.
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