Taiwan trade chief suspended from post over workplace bullying report

Taipei, June 30 (CNA) Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) has suspended Taiwan's trade representative, Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮), after a Cabinet investigation team determined that Yang had subjected her late deputy to workplace bullying.

The decision came after Cho met with Yang on Monday to discuss the results of the investigation, which were unveiled last Friday, the Cabinet said in a statement Monday night.

Yang has been suspended from her post as minister without portfolio according to regulations governing the occupational safety and hygiene of civil servants, the statement said.

In Yang's absence, her two deputies and executive secretary will oversee operations at the Office of Trade Negotiations, while Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) will lead meetings of the trade negotiation team and head any further trade talks with the United States, it said.

There was no indication of what the next step in the process would be to deal with Yang's suspension. Yang suggested, however, that she may take legal action against an individual allegedly trying to slander her.

Local media reports of Yang having bullied her late deputy, Yen Huai-hsing (顏慧欣), surfaced shortly after Yen's resignation in February and subsequent death on March 12 at the age of 53.

In her resignation letter, she wrote that her proposals regarding Taiwan's bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), as well as a systematic overhaul of the office, were repeatedly ignored.

Yang, however, has denied having ever bullied Yen.

In her latest statement issued last Friday, Yang criticized the "partial" investigation, which she said was not grounded in evidence and did not allow her to express her opinions.

She said she and Yen had often encouraged each other and that allegations that they had had a falling-out only began to surface after Yen's death.

Yang said that during her personal investigation, she had traced all the "slandering" to a single source that wielded significant media and political influence, without identifying the individual.

She said she was considering taking legal action against her slanderer, who has been planting stories in the media, to defend her reputation.