DPP pans EasyCard boss for taking study leave in US

Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors yesterday condemned Taipei EasyCard Corp chairman Sean Lien (連勝文) for taking six weeks’ leave to visit the US as an Eisenhower Fellow.

The councilors were also enraged that Lien’s country designation on the organization’s official Web site was listed as “Taipei, China (Taiwan).”

Lien was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship in this year’s multinational program and began six weeks of leave on Monday for the short-term study program in the US.

DPP Taipei City councilors Lee Chien-chang (李建昌), Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) and Huang Hsiang-chun (黃向群) challenged Lien over the name on the Web site.

Huang urged Lien not to neglect public affairs or disregard the ­interests of EasyCard users because of personal reasons.

Lien, who is currently in the US, issued a statement saying that he had raised the national title issue with the fellowship in February.

Lien enclosed an e-mail he had sent to the fellowship’s multinational program officer, Greg Forman, on Feb. 23. In the e-mail, Lien asked the fellowship to change the title “China (Taiwan) to “Taiwan, the ROC.”

According to Forman’s reply, the fellowship adopted the title “Taipei, China (Taiwan)” in the 1990s after board member and former US president George H.W. Bush invited China to join, Lien said.

All of Taiwan’s award recipients, including former DPP legislator Julian Kuo (郭正亮), have attended activities held by the fellowships under the name of “Taipei, China (Taiwan),” he said.