TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The foreign ministry has been asked to take corrective action over lax rules on diplomatic officials posted overseas that saw Jaime Wu (吳進木), former ambassador to Nicaragua, quit before the two countries broke ties and refuse to return to Taiwan.

The Central American country cut diplomatic relations with Taiwan on Dec. 9 2021 in favor of China. Wu, who had applied multiple times for retirement since 2020, stepped down on Nov. 17, 2021, and was granted Nicaraguan citizenship on Dec. 10 that year.

In a breach of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Wu has failed to return to Taiwan, while he should have been banned from leaving the country until Nov. 16, 2024, said the Control Yuan, a supervisory body of the government.

Wu was also accused of having learned about the imminent break of ties but concealed relevant intelligence, a charge not backed up by evidence, the Control Yuan has found. He was, however, considered not to have lived up to the expectations of the country for his lack of loyalty by taking the citizenship offer.

The incident involved a potential leak of state secrets and saw Taiwan’s embassy and assets confiscated and transferred to the Chinese government as staff members were forced out in two weeks.

As such, the foreign ministry has been asked to redress the loopholes in current laws and push for better regulation of outgoing high-ranking diplomats. A review should also be conducted into the evaluation system for ambassadors, the Control Yuan concluded in a report following an investigation into the matter.