Dozens of passengers on Wuhan evacuation flight found to be Chinese spouses, non-Taiwanese
Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/05
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer\
(CNA photo)
After denying Taiwanese evacuation requests for a week, the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) finally permitted 247 Taiwanese businesspeople to board a China Eastern Airlines charter jet at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport on Monday (Feb. 3). However, local Taiwanese media outlets soon reported that many of the passengers on the plane were not on the original passenger list, with dozens actually being Chinese spouses of Taiwanese businessmen as well as non-Taiwanese citizens, including minors.
Some Taiwanese businessmen allege that Hsu Cheng-wen (徐正文), the head of the Parents Association in Taipei and member of the Kuomintang (KMT) Central Committee, who was involved in arranging the first charter flight, and the Chinese officials he worked with did not place a priority on passengers who were in urgent need, favoring relatives and children instead. According to a report by ETtoday, a businessman familiar with the matter said that many Taiwanese business executives had registered with Hsu for the evacuation.
However, when the final boarding list was revealed, the names of the businessmen did not appear. Instead, many of the Taiwanese executives brought their Chinese spouses and children on the jet. According to one source with knowledge of the incident, only when it was found that dozens of non-Taiwanese citizens had boarded the plane was it apparent that those on the list had taken their Chinese wives on board with them. [FULL STORY]
