By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Taoyuan International Airport has illegally granted a Chinese official express customs clearance in yet another example of the administration’s abandonment of Taiwan’s sovereignty, a lawmaker said yesterday.
Cai Rongjun (蔡榮俊), director of Bank of China’s (BOC) Taipei branch, used a temporary pass to enter a restricted area of Taoyuan airport on Tuesday to pick up BOC president Li Lihui (李禮輝), who was granted express customs clearance, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) told a press conference.
Li is in Taipei to open the BOC’s Taipei branch, the first Chinese bank to open a branch in Taiwan.
Express customs clearance is granted only to heads of state, ministerial-level foreign officials, foreign ambassadors or guests invited by the central government, but Li is an executive in the private sector, Huang said.
The lawmaker demanded that the Aviation Police Office explain why Li was granted clearance and which institution had applied for it.
Cai’s temporary pass was distributed at the request of the Straits Exchange Foundation, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said, adding that temporary passes are prohibited for use for the purpose of public relations.
The foundation, a semi-governmental organization in charge of cross-strait exchanges and negotiations, had gone beyond its authorization and procedures in asking for the temporary pass, Huang said.
The foundation, the police and the airport corporation have not been doing their jobs and have ignored the importance of national security, Huang said.