Foreign Minister David Lin says that the government of Kiribati must take responsibility for US$1.4 million in missing Taiwanese aid money.
Taiwan had donated the money to help Kiribati purchase flat-bottomed transport ships. The vessels would have been used to connect the Pacific nation’s many remote islands. However, Radio New Zealand International reports that the money has disappeared.
On Thursday, Lin told the legislature’s foreign affairs committee that Taiwan’s embassy in Kiribati had delivered the aid money to local officials during a public ceremony. He said that responsibility for the disappearance of the money therefore lies with the government of Kiribati. He also said that the government of Kiribati must now find other funds to purchase the ships.
Kiribati has launched an inquiry into the missing money, and is trying to discover where it might have gone.