Senior Control Yuan official resigns over misuse of government vehicle

Taipei, June 2 (CNA) Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media.

His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan, the watchdog branch of the Taiwan government.

In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20.

The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon.

The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistleblower, which purportedly showed the driver of the Control Yuan vehicle transporting Lee's dog to the salon.

TVBS also reported that Lee had taken his wife to restaurants in the same Control Yuan vehicle and had asked the driver to run personal errands for her.

When the news first broke on May 27, Lee expressed regret over his actions.

In his statement on Sunday night, he said he had failed to live up to the standards expected of a Control Yuan official. He apologized for his "poor judgment and lack of discretion."

Lee said that after he tendered his resignation, it was promptly accepted by Acting Control Yuan President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞).

Meanwhile, at a press event on Monday, Lee Hung-chun apologized to the public over the issue.

He said the watchdog body will follow up on similar accusations made by the opposition Kuomintang and will conduct an investigation into the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members, namely, Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) .