Taipei, March 30 (CNA) Foreign Minister Timothy C.T. Yang said Wednesday that he was not sure what "confidential diplomatic notes" were in the 36,000 official documents that were allegedly lost during the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration.
The Presidential Office said Tuesday it was asking the Control Yuan, the top government watchdog, to investigate a matter of possible dereliction of duty on the part of a group of officials working under former President Chen Shui-bian, after it was discovered that thousands of official files were missing.
It was found that during the DPP's eight years in power from 2000-2008, the Presidential Office received a total of 38,924 documents, including 25,398 confidential notes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, only 6.76 percent of them had been properly filed, according to the Presidential Office.
"I'm not quite sure what the 'confidential diplomatic notes' were, but the MOFA does submit originals or transcripts of confidential diplomatic cables to our superiors if we think it is necessary," Yang told reporters.
"However, we do not use the term of 'confidential diplomatic notes' in the MOFA," he said.
Some of the documents sent to the Presidential Office from the MOFA were originals and some were transcripts, he said. Some of the original files were sent back to the MOFA with instructions from the Presidential Office, but some never came back, he added.
"I think the Presidential Office is in a better position to comment on the matter at this moment," Yang said.
Presidential spokesman Lo Chih-chiang said former DPP administration officials should be held accountable for the loss of the official files and they could be subject to criminal liability as well as administrative accountability.
In response to the allegations, DPP spokesman Lin Yu-chang said the figures provided by the Presidential Office were misleading because not all the documents were official files.
A total of 17 former DPP administration officials, including former President Chen Shui-bian who is currently serving a 17.5-year jail term for bribery, former Vice President Annette Lu and presidential aspirant Su Tseng-chang, were mentioned in the allegations. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc