Taiwan Presidential Office Accuses KMT of a ‘Fake Apology’ Over Sheltered Workshops

Kuomintang caucus leader Fu Kun-chi bowed in apology after a legislative budget dispute affected Mid-Autumn gift-box orders from 37 sheltered workshops across Taiwan. The presidential office responded that the gesture amounted to a “fake apology” that shifted responsibility.

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fake apology, real buck-passing

Presidential office spokesperson Karen Kuo said an apology and a promise to handle the orders would normally be welcome. But she said Fu’s apology lacked sincerity, while lawmaker Weng Hsiao-ling, who sponsored the proposal, was absent from the event.

The dispute followed the KMT caucus’s move to cut and freeze the presidential office’s confidential affairs budget at zero. Kuo said the office had repeatedly explained, both publicly and privately during the review process, that the mooncake orders from sheltered workshops had already been placed.

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The apology was not sincere

She rejected claims that the presidential office had abandoned the orders or that the president did not want to buy them before the KMT took them over. Kuo described that account as a complete distortion of events.

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The claim completely turns black into white

The KMT caucus has called for next year’s confidential affairs budget to increase and for three times the budget to be used to purchase gift boxes from sheltered workshops. Kuo urged lawmakers to approach the coming budget review rationally and stressed that sheltered workshops, vulnerable groups and people with disabilities should not lose their employment rights because of the dispute.

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The employment rights of sheltered workshops, vulnerable groups and people with disabilities should not be affected