The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Must Tighten Discipline

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Must Tighten Discipline
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
August 4, 2011

Summary: Former Representative to Fiji Victor Chin is suspected of having an affair with one Ms. Kurokawa, a secretary at the Japanese Embassy. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs ad hoc group has investigated and found Victor Chin guilty of corruption and administrative negligence, and suspended him, The case will be referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Control Yuan. The conduct of diplomatic personnel may affect national security. That is why this matter must not be taken lightly. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should work hand in hand with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and uncover the facts as soon as possible.

Full Text below:

Former Representative to Fiji Victor Chin is suspected of having an affair with one Ms. Kurokawa, a secretary at the Japanese Embassy. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs ad hoc group has investigated and found Victor Chin guilty of corruption and administrative negligence, and suspended him, The case will be referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Control Yuan. The conduct of diplomatic personnel may affect national security. That is why this matter must not be taken lightly. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should work hand in hand with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and uncover the facts as soon as possible.

When legislators first revealed the affair, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accepted Victor Chin's explanation and stood behind his claim of innocence. But an investigative team traveled to Fiji and interviewed staffers at the de facto embassy, overseas Chinese, and other witnesses. After gaining access to evidence relating to the case, it learned the situation was not that simple. Security guards at the official residence saw Kurokawa entering and exiting the official residence freely more than once. She was not accompanied by Victor Chin. This violated the security requirements for offices abroad. Female hairs were even found in the bathtub at the official residence. Further confirmation is required, but there is at least physical evidence that a woman stayed overnight.

Chin is believed to have given Kurokawa a pearl necklace, Chin said he bought four necklaces and four designer pens to give to politicians in Fiji. The last necklace however, was not given away. The investigative team found a necklace at the official residence. The weight and design was different from those originally purchased. Some suspect Chin bought it with cash only after legislators broke the news. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has therefore found Chin guilty of corruption. It has suspended Chin and referred the case to the Control Yuan and the Ministry of Justice ICAC for further investigation.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs investigators found that Chin may have filed false reimbursement claims for banquets, He may have charged private meals to official accounts. In 2006, Chin began applying for subsidies for family members. Beginning in February of the following year, his wife ceased accompanying him. Yet Chin continued applying for and receiving the subsidies. He applied for and received 44 months worth of subsidies, amounting to over 630,000 NT.

In fact, Chin was previously implicated over a case of red wine. This falsified documents case took place just before Chin was transferred to New Zealand. In order to use up the North American Division's "Foreign Affairs Administrative Expenses," Chin instructed former North American Division Department Chief Yang Ching-hui to spend over 210,000 NT purchasing 36 bottles of red wine. He intended to use them as official gifts, after he was assigned to his new post in New Zealand, Later it was discovered that Chin falsified the vouchers. Chin claimed the funds were used to entertain American and Canadian officials posted to Taiwan.

Some people may consider such personal affairs private matters. But diplomats are involved in matters of state security. These include the establishment and promotion of diplomatic relations with other countries, and the content of negotiations. Therefore diplomats cannot afford to be lax about their personal conduct, Their conduct may have serious consequences.

For example, Mainland China assigned a "Mata Hari" to seduce a Japanese diplomat. They threatened to expose him unless he revealed diplomatic secrets. Eventually the diplomat committed suicide. Luo Hsien-che, an ROC diplomat, became an informant after losing his head over a woman. Former U.S. State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Donald Keyser became obsessed with Chen Nian-chi, an ROC National Security Bureau official assigned to Washington. The affair rocked Taipei/Washington relations. Keyser was discredited and forced to resign.

Typically men go wrong, first over money, second over sex, or the two together. Diplomats are privy to diplomatic secrets. They may fall prey to "Mata Haris." An extra-marital affair or corruption may leave them susceptible to extortion. This may result in leaks of secret information, damaging to national security. This is why every nation has rigorous loyalty tests and behavior monitoring procedures for high-level personnel with access to secret information. A single individual's weakness or slip up, can jeopardize an entire nation. The price is too high. The risk is too great, Extramarital affairs for diplomats cannot be seen as a purely private matter.

Consider the incident as a whole. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was clearly lax in its oversight procedures. It had too much faith in Chin's one sided account. Now the first priority is to conduct a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of the matter, All doubts must be allayed. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must dispatch investigators to Fiji. It must work with Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to uncover the truth. If Victor Chin and Aiko Kurokawa did not have an affair, they must be cleared of such suspicions.

Victor Chin has been implicated in several scandals. These scandals Involve a pearl necklace, red wine, banquets, telephone charges, and subsidies to family members. This shows that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has long been negligent in its auditing procedures. Gifts to foreign dignitaries or their wives enable us to build relationships with them, One can of course come back later and request reimbursement. Usually such gifts are purchased in bulk. Considerable time may elapse before one needs to an appropriate gift for another foreign dignitary, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must trust diplomatic personnel to deal with such matters on their own. But after all, this is hard-earned taxpayer money, The auditing process must not become a mere formality, Otherwise it will be impossible to prevent the private use of public funds. This is corruption, and inexcusable.

The Taipei District Prosecutor's Office has recently investigated the case. The result has been a rare example of concurrent investigations by the Control Yuan, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, and the Bureau of Investigation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is cooperating with the investigation to uncover the truth, But it must also take the opportunity to review its audit oversight mechanisms, It must close the holes as soon as possible, It must strengthen internal discipline, in order to avoid similar incidents.

中時電子報 新聞
中國時報 　2011.08.05
社論－外交部須對外館管理上緊發條
本報訊

前駐斐濟代表秦日新疑似與日本女外交官有染，外交部專案小組日前完成調查，認定秦日新涉嫌貪瀆及行政疏失情節重大，即日起予以停職，並將全案移送廉政署及監察院。外交人員的操守可以關係到國家安全，絕對不容輕忽；而外交部也應該尋求與日本外務省合作，儘早釐清事實真相。

此事在立委爆料時，外交部一開始也接受秦日新的解說而力挺其清白。但在組成調查小組遠赴斐濟實地訪談館員、僑界等證人，並調閱搜查相關事證之後，卻發現狀況並不單純。包括官邸警衛不止一次看到黑川自由進出官邸，甚至沒有秦日新陪同，違反了駐外館處的安全規定。甚至還傳出官邸浴缸發現女性毛髮，雖然未獲證實，但至少確已發現女性留宿的物證。

至於贈送珍珠項鍊給黑川之事，秦日新辯稱曾買了四串項鍊及四支名筆要送給斐濟政要，但有一串項鍊最後未送出。但調查小組在官邸找到的項鍊型號、重量和款式都與當初購買的項鍊不符，疑似是立委踢爆後秦才以現金購買。外交部因此認定秦日新確有貪瀆行為，決定立即將秦日新停職，並移送監察院與法務部廉政署調查。

外交部調查還發現，秦日新疑似虛報宴客名單及地點，拿私人餐費報公帳。而秦日新自二○○六年開始申領眷屬補助費，但隔年二月起配偶未隨行，秦卻未停領，前後溢領補助費四十四個月、超過六十三萬元。

其實秦日新之前還涉及了一椿紅酒案。這起偽造文書案，是秦日新在調任紐西蘭代表前，為了消化北美司的「外交事務管理費」，交代前北美司科長楊慶輝花廿一萬餘元購買卅六瓶紅酒，準備赴紐西蘭履新時做公務贈禮之用，事後被查出這筆錢涉嫌偽造宴請美、加駐台人員的名目核銷。

也許有人認為個人感情出軌屬於私生活，但外交官的許多業務涉及國家機密，包括與其他國家的建交進度、談判內容等等，因此品格操守尤其不能馬虎鬆懈，有些狀況甚至可能帶來嚴重後果。

例如，中國大陸便發生過派風月女子色誘日本外交官後，以此為把柄要脅洩露外交機密，逼得該外交官最後走上自殺一途。台灣羅賢哲之所以成為共諜，也是敗在色字頭上。而前美國國務院副助理國務卿凱德磊迷戀台灣國安局駐美人員程念慈，事情爆發引發台美轟動，凱德磊也身敗名裂黯然去職。

通常，男人會出亂子，一是為財，一是為色，或者兩個一起來。外交人員知曉許多外交機密，如果被美女間諜攻陷，或者婚外情被有心人拿來勒索，乃至Ａ錢被逮到把柄，導致機密資訊外流，可能會對國家安全造成重大損傷。這也是為什麼，各國對能夠接觸高層級機密的人員都有嚴密的忠誠考核與行為監督。因為一個人的軟弱失足，可能會危及整個國家，代價實在太大，風險也實在太高，絕對不能只視為個人行為。

回顧整起事件，外交部顯然在考核監督方面太過鬆散，一開始又過分相信秦日新的片面之辭。現在最重要的是徹底查個水落石出，把所有爭議疑點一一釐清，除了派員親赴斐濟調查之外，也應該透過管道要求取得日本外務省的合作，共同查明事實的真相。如果秦日新和黑川愛子之間沒有出軌，也要還人家一個清白。

秦日新的這幾件案子，涉及了珍珠項鍊、紅酒、宴飲電話費、眷屬補助等多項爭議，而這也反映了外交部門長久以來稽核方面的問題。贈送禮品給外國政要或夫人時，是為了建立關係拉攏對方，當然不可能還要人家寫收條回來報帳。禮品通常會一次購買相當的數量，日後再依不同對象選擇適當的禮品相贈，時間可能拉得很長，因此在相當程度上，外交部是信賴並授權外交人員在一定範圍內自行處理的。不過畢竟仍然出自民脂民膏，稽核程序不能流於形式，否則難以阻絕出現公禮私用的弊端。那是侵占公款的貪瀆行為，不可原諒。

台北地檢署日前已先分案調查，形成監察院、廉政署、調查局三路偵辦秦日新案的罕見局面。外交部除了配合調查釐清事實外，也應該藉機徹底檢討現行稽核監督機制的疏失，及早補好破網，並且加強整飭內部風氣，才能避免類似事件重演。