Geneva envoy probe could take months: minister

An investigation into Taiwan’s representative in Geneva, Greg Lee (李冠德), could take two months given the extensive allegations against him, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a signed complaint late last month accusing Lee of workplace bullying, poor leadership and the use of public resources for personal purposes, Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

A special investigative task force was formed on Aug. 2 and includes people from outside the ministry with legal expertise, he said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung answers legislators’ questions at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times

“We are relying on the task force to clarify the facts. We also hope they can speed up the investigation, but we cannot jump to conclusions before the final results are released,” he said.

Given the extent of the allegations, the investigation would also involve different ministry departments, he added.

If the investigation concludes that Lee engaged in workplace bullying, he would be asked to leave his post in Geneva and return to the ministry’s headquarters in Taipei for further review and possible disciplinary action, Personnel Department Director Lu Shih-yi (呂世壹) said.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) said that in eight of the 10 workplace-bullying complaints involving the ministry’s headquarters and overseas offices since Lin took office in May 2024, seven had been closed with no disciplinary action taken.

The eighth is the investigation into Lee.

Lee’s case became public earlier this month after Taiwanese media reported that staff at the Geneva office had jointly filed a 15-page complaint accompanied by a 134-page dossier detailing alleged misconduct.

Among the allegations was that Lee verbally humiliated subordinates and that his management style caused some employees to seek medical help.

Lee has also been accused of spending about NT$130,000 in public funds on high-end chocolates for visiting Taiwanese lawmakers attending events in Geneva last year, and of later asking subordinates to submit false expense claims to cover the expenses.

Lee has reportedly returned to Taipei, but Lin said the investigative team had yet to interview him.

In a separate exchange, KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) asked Lin to comment on what Lai described as the ministry’s “soft” remarks on visits by senior members of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo last week.

The visits drew diplomatic protests and strong condemnation from China and South Korea.

However, the ministry only expressed respect for different views in Japan regarding the visits by Takaichi’s Cabinet members, drawing criticism from the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party, which described the response as weak.

Lin said the government “respects” the diversity of views in Japan regarding senior officials’ visits to the controversial shrine honoring Japan’s war dead, including World War II war criminals, but also hopes Tokyo would reflect on its wartime aggression.

“We recognize and respect the diversity of views within Japanese society regarding these issues. We look forward to [Japan’s] continuous reflection — ensuring that the crime of waging war is never repeated — while also anticipating joint efforts [between Taipei and Tokyo] to uphold regional peace and stability,” he said at the legislature in Taipei.

“We hope that current Taiwan-Japan relations will contribute to peace in the region,” he added.