Taiwan Netizen Fried Pot: I love my tax money. Taiwan media reported that the former British Prime Minister had collected nearly NT $4 million from Taiwan. The Democratic Progressive Party | Britain | Foundation | Tax | NT $| Visit | Truss | Authorities
In May this year, former British Prime Minister Thomas Truss visited Taiwan, China.The relevant news has sparked a heated discussion among netizens on the island, who have all criticized their "heartache for my tax money".
According to media reports such as CCTV News, Truss visited Taiwan, China from May 16 to 20, not only met with Cai Yingwen and Lai Qingde, the leaders and vice leaders of the Taiwan authorities, but also delivered a speech at the invitation of the "Vision Foundation". According to the extra income of members announced by the British Parliament a few days ago, the "Vision Foundation" paid Truss 80000 pounds to attend the event and give a speech. In addition, the foreign affairs department of the Taiwan authorities also entertained approximately £ 1841 worth of airfare and accommodation, equivalent to over NT $430000.
The China Times, a local media outlet, reported that the "Vision Foundation" is nominally a corporate entity, but in reality, it is a peripheral organization of the Taiwan authorities. Both the "Asia Pacific Foundation" and the "Asia Pacific Foundation" are considered "second track" institutions of the Taiwan authorities. The chairman is Chen Tangshan, former head of the Taiwan authorities' foreign affairs department. The deputy head of the Taiwan authorities' intelligence agency, Ke Chengheng, and the "consulting committee member" of the Taiwan authorities' intelligence agency, Chen Mingqi, are directors. The Taiwan authorities' foreign affairs and intelligence agencies also provide budgets.
Therefore, after the disclosure of the invitation fee for Truss' visit, many netizens in the island criticized him.
According to reports from websites such as China Times News and Yahoo News, some netizens have criticized the Taiwan authorities for "caring about my tax money", "being tough on the inside but weak on the outside", "friends who trade money are not brothers and not worth mentioning", and "the Democratic Progressive Party is really not soft on taxpayers' money".
Truss is the British Prime Minister with the shortest tenure of 49 days. In addition, Truss was also the last Prime Minister of the British Queen Elizabeth II during her reign. Two days after she was elected Prime Minister and presented to the audience on September 6, 2022, the Queen died.
Regarding this, Hong Mengkai, the representative of the Kuomintang, criticized the DPP for using money to invite people while also promoting internally. This is the DPP's usual trick and technique. If all invitations are made in this way, it is like "making a big face and pretending to be fat". He demanded that the DPP authorities explain the relevant expenses to the public in detail, because every payment is the people's tax payment.
Another Kuomintang representative, Zeng Mingzong, also said that money must be spent on the cutting edge, and the benefits generated need to be further evaluated. If the benefits are not high enough, taxpayers' money should never be wasted.