Taiwan minister quits after Facebook girlfriend post

TAIWAN: Taiwan’s government spokesman has resigned, a cabinet official said Thursday, days after he revealed on his Facebook page that he is dating a former student 27 years his junior.

Premier Sean Chen has approved the resignation of 51-year-old Hu Yu-wei, who also served as information minister, from the government due to “personal reasons” and has yet to name his successor, the official said, declining to be named.

Hu, previously a professor of media studies, posted a controversial message on Facebook last week revealing that he is currently dating a former student.

Although Hu is divorced, his remark appeared to be the last straw following public uproar about some of his previous Facebook posts.

Hu first came under fire earlier this month when he published an image of an iPhone 5 on Facebook along with an appeal to consume more, setting off a barrage of attacks for not favouring the island’s own smartphone brand HTC.

He drew more criticism when he insisted that he was trying to draw attention to government policies encouraging consumption and called the attacks against him “white terror”, referring to a period of oppression when Taiwan was a one-party state. “The negative news has dealt a heavy blow to Hu, and it was inevitable that he had to step down as the government spokesman,” said William Niu, a political analyst at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei.

“Hu attempted to find new ways to promote government policies but it’s clear the end result was not successful,” he said.

AFP