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By Liu Wan-lin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) yesterday said she did not reveal any information about Taiwan’s agreement with the Czech Republic, a day after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) accused her of leaking confidential documents.
The Taiwan-Czech Republic collaboration on a US$10 million healthcare project, which she has mentioned several times since last week, had already been reported by Prague’s foreign ministry in a newsletter in March, Hsu told a news conference in Taipei.
MOFA filed a criminal complaint against the lawmaker accusing her of national and administrative secrecy breaches.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Taiwan’s laws do not allow the government to classify information the public could already access, she said.
The Czech Republic had not restricted information on the program and it had disclosed more about it than she mentioned, Hsu said.
The newsletter detailed the deal Taipei and Prague made, while her disclosure was limited to transparency issues surrounding Taiwanese medical supplies, Hsu said.
The Czech Republic’s full disclosure of the bilateral memorandum of understanding is more democratic, Hsu said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) acted improperly in accusing her before fully knowing the facts, she added.
Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) of the KMT told a radio station host that classified state secrets would be “most safely discussed at a classified hearing,” and not under public scrutiny.
The justice system would settle the controversy surrounding Hsu’s disclosure of the information to the media regarding an aid project to assist Ukraine through the Czech Republic, but MOFA could have reached first out to understand her concerns, he said.
The legislative and executive branches have their own prerogatives and must respect one another, he said, adding that the purpose of an agreement with a foreign government should not be classified.
The KMT does not wish a domestic dispute to affect Taiwan’s relationship with the Czech Republic, but it insists that the government should be held accountable for the use of taxpayers’ money, he said.
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