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EDITORIAL: Government
divided on Vanessa Shih
A Control Yuan report on the conduct of a former representative to Singapore,
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vanessa Shih (史亞平), has reportedly concluded
that she was responsible for a “serious dereliction of duty” in her dealings
with the Singaporean government, and former representative office division chief
Chang Shih-jui (張詩瑞) was responsible for “a major violation of law.” However,
since their recall, both Shih and Chang have been promoted in an apparent
conflict between the positions of the Control Yuan and the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. The sensitive nature of the report’s contents, which were believed to
be potentially damaging to Taiwan-Singapore ties and therefore the national
interest, reportedly led to the decision to keep it confidential.
Diplomatic envoys are political appointments responsible for the state of
relations between two countries. It seems that different government departments
have evaluated Shih’s performance in Singapore very differently. Minister of
Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) has said that Shih’s performance was
outstanding, and that Taiwan-Singapore relations had improved during her tenure.
On her return to Taiwan, her appointment as a deputy minister was announced and
some in diplomatic circles were saying she would make vice minister before long.
There are definite signs from the Singapore side that all was not well from
their perspective, with rumors of calls from high up to have her replaced,
suggesting her diplomatic efforts had not been so successful. Also, that
relations between Taiwan and Singapore have improved since Shih’s recall suggest
the envoy herself may have been the problem.
The Control Yuan report said the representative office was guilty of “serious
dereliction of duty and a major violation of law.”
Local media have also reported that the situation Control Yuan investigators
discovered in Singapore was even more serious than the report made out.
Apparently, promises were made to Singaporean officials that certain facts would
not be made public, again suggesting the actual situation was worse than has
been revealed. And when the Control Yuan finally published the report, a
decision was made to classify it as confidential. That those involved were
neither impeached nor disciplined has led the press to speculate the case was
either too sensitive or that orders had come from on high preventing the Control
Yuan from making the report public.
The apparent conflict between the stances of the Control Yuan and the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs has sent rumors flying. Some say that for Shih, a favorite of
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), it had been plain sailing up till now, going from
deputy representative to Australia to minister of the Government Information
Office (GIO) to representative to Singapore, and so she was able to be promoted
to deputy minister despite the problems in Singapore. This argument also holds
that she is destined for higher positions still, and that Yang had to defend
her. All of this demonstrates the non-meritocratic culture within the ministry.
The different stances on this issue among the Control Yuan, the ministry and the
Presidential Office have created a confusing and unfortunate political
situation. It has not only put future ties with Singapore in jeopardy, but added
to criticisms that the Control Yuan refuses to tackle the important issues. Not
only that, it is also unfair to Shih herself, for it is possible her conduct
really was blameless. As it stands, she will have the stain of the Control
Yuan’s “serious dereliction of duty” evaluation on her career now and into the
future. The government should clear up this confusion and stop continuing to
tarnish the names of the Control Yuan, the ministry, the Presidential Office and
of Shih herself.
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