Taipei, April 13 (CNA) Ruling party lawmakers questioned on Wednesday the motive behind an open letter from foreign nationals that accused the Presidential Office of being politically motivated in launching a probe into the previous administration's handling of official documents.
Legislators of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) used strong wording at a session of the Foreign and National Defense Committee to express skepticism over the letter, signed by 34 foreign academics and former officials, which was sent to President Ma Ying-jeou Saturday.
The group of foreign nationals included former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Nat Bellocchi; Stephen Yates, former deputy assistant for national security affairs to former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney; and Bruce Jacobs, a professor at Australia's Monash University and expert on Taiwanese politics.
The group questioned why the Ma administration did not disclose that 36,000 files handled by former President Chen Shui-bian and his staff from 2000-2008 were missing in May 2008 when it took over power and why it took three years to release the information.
They concluded that the move "suggests a political motive."
KMT Legislator John Chiang, said the opinion of Bellocchi, who writes weekly columns for a pro-opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) local newspaper, has long lost its credibility and subjectivity because his position is obvious.
The foreigners wrote the letter simply to criticize the Ma administration, and "today I'm here to condemn their behavior, " Chiang said.
Chang Hsien-yao, also a KMT legislator, wondered whether the letter, which was published by local newspapers in both Chinese and English, was written by the scholars themselves, arguing that he did not see their signatures under the letter.
Another KMT lawmaker, Shuai Hua-ming, said the impact of the letter could not be underestimated, and he urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to immediately contact the scholars and former officials and "give them accurate information and an explanation."
In response to the legislators' comments, MOFA Deputy Minister Thomas Ping-fu Hou pledged to instruct Taiwan's representative office in Washington and MOFA officials to handle the task.
MOFA spokesman James Chang said Tuesday that the government has a code that regulates the handling of the nation's files, and he asked that people from abroad respect the Republic of China's rule of law.
On Monday, presidential spokesman Lo Chih-chiang explained that it took nearly three years for his office to bring up the matter because the May 2008 changeover was only ceremonial and the presidential office had to track the documents manually.
(By Chris Wang)
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