MP slams Taiwan assault

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko has labelled the actions of a Papua New Guinea diplomat in Taipei, Taiwan, who assaulted his wife and a restaurant staff as “disgusting and disgraceful.”
Tkatchenko said the diplomat and his family would be brought back to PNG where the wife could press charges.
“We want to apologise to the local authorities for his disgusting behaviour,” he said.
“At the end of the day, the best thing we could do is remove him and unfortunately his family who are the victims in this situation, back to Papua New Guinea so he is out the country and no longer a problem for Taiwan and even for PNG as well.
“We cannot let a Papua New Guinean in a prominent position to get away belting his wife in public and be totally drunk and disorderly, that is an absolute disgrace so for that reason, we have no hesitation in bringing him back here,” he said.
Tkatchenko said the diplomat’s wife had the right to lay charges. He said the husband had diplomatic immunity while in Taiwan but could be charged once in PNG.
Tkatchenko added that his office was doing a complete review of all PNG’s missions, high commissions, embassies and consular generals throughout the world.
“We want to assess their performance, are they productive, what are they achieving for the country and what’s their purpose.
“We will also assess all missions overseas whether they should be really active or they should be shut down, whether they are actively producing positive results for our country going forward.
“We are doing a complete review of the department and I hope to have that finished by the end of the month and ready for October to make some hard decisions moving forward for cost saving and also making sure that we have the right ambassadors, high commissioners and consulates open for the benefit of the country and for the good of what we are trying to achieve for the region,” he said.