Fu criticized for traveling to Hong Kong on ‘sick’ day

• By Chen Cheng-yu, Jonathan Chin and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writers

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) drew ire from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday, after he took a sick leave from a legislative negotiation on Tuesday, but was later revealed to be in Hong Kong.

Fu skipped the meeting saying he was sick, but Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) confirmed that he was abroad.

Fu wrote on Facebook that he was in Hualien County all morning on Tuesday attending events, then went home in the afternoon to recover from a bad cold.

That evening, he flew out to attend the Hong Kong International Travel Expo, he said, adding that he paid attention to budget negotiations in the legislature while at home.

Fu welcomed the public to cross-check his schedule and urged “those with ulterior motives” to refrain from making false accusations.

The visit to the travel expo was intended to boost travel to Hualien after the earthquake in April last year, through direct flights, he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of an unrelated event, DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) accused Fu of taking orders from Beijing.

Fu has consistently visited China before leading his caucus to launch controversial initiatives that have had a disruptive effect on governance and undermined the Constitution, she said.

In April, Fu led a KMT delegation to Beijing and met Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧).

A few weeks later, the KMT launched a bill to expand the legislature’s power, she said, referring to a bill that the Constitutional Court later partially struck down.

In December last year, he traveled to Hong Kong before returning home to propose a flurry of amendments, Wu said.

Fu “feigned illness” to visit Hong Kong at the start of the legislature’s new session, she said.

“What orders or edicts did Fu receive in Hong Kong this time? Or is he asking [China] to help save the KMT from recalls?” Wu asked.

Additional reporting by Liu Wan-lin