TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s government watchdog on Wednesday impeached former top trade negotiator Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮) and referred her case to the Disciplinary Court after an investigation found she had bullied a deputy.
Yang, a former minister without portfolio and head of the Cabinet’s Office of Trade Negotiations, was removed from government after an independent investigation concluded last month that she had engaged in workplace bullying toward deputy Yen Huai-shing (顏慧欣). The allegations against Yang surfaced after Yen died of illness in March at age 53.
The Control Yuan, Taiwan’s top government watchdog, decided Wednesday to impeach Yang and refer her case to the Disciplinary Court, per UDN. Yang often publicly rejected Yen’s views and ideas, reduced her participation in important cases, and failed to provide her with necessary assistance, the Control Yuan said.
Yang also assigned numerous tasks to a secretary shared by the two officials, preventing the secretary from assisting Yen and increasing Yen’s workload, the Control Yuan said. It said Yang’s pressure-based and threatening management style left no room for alternative views and created an unfriendly working environment.
The Control Yuan said Yang’s behavior violated the Public Functionary Service Act and that the case was serious enough to warrant review by the Disciplinary Court.
