政治中心/綜合報導
英國交通部長克拉瑪今(26日)早拜會台北市長柯文哲,並送上英國上議院懷錶給柯,外賓「送鐘錶」的行為讓柯文哲笑說,要把錶轉送給別人或是賣給破銅爛鐵,遭批失禮於外賓。但克拉瑪得知「不能送鐘」的台灣習俗後,也表示很抱歉,指鐘錶在英國被視為是珍貴的禮物。
根據自由時報報導,英國駐台官員轉述克拉瑪說法,對贈錶一事發生誤解與爭議感到抱歉,也解釋在英國,鐘錶被視為「珍貴」的禮物,因為可以讓人們了解到時間有多重要,而這次贈與柯市長的懷錶是只有英國上議院議員才有資格擁有,是非常特殊的禮物。
撇開贈禮爭議風波,克拉瑪也強調此行很榮幸能與柯市長會面,並期待與市府團隊進行合作交流。
克拉瑪針對送禮給柯文哲後報導的回應(原文):
“I’m sorry. We learn something new each day. I had no idea a gift like this could be seen as anything other than positive: In the UK a watch is precious - because nothing is more important than time.
The gift came from the House of Lords – which is only accessible to members of the UK’s upper parliament. It is a very unique item.
It was a huge honour to meet Mayor Ko. We look forward to working with him and his team in Taipei.”