Sai Mizzi Liang, the government’s envoy for Asia, is denying she receives a monthly salary of €13,000 and is willing to provide documents to prove she earns just over €3,000.
The wife of Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi struggled to hold back the tears as she yesterday broke her silence addressing criticism that has dogged her since she was appointed last August.
“The criticism has been very low. I have something like €3,000 a month. I think any person with a normal IQ won’t believe I get €13,000 because I’m a government employee and each tier has its own salary,” she told the media.
“I can show you my payslip and FS3 and provide evidence of this. I don’t know why they’re attacking me like this, probably because I’m Chinese; a foreigner. I’m upset but I have to live with it. That’s life,” she added.
The appointment of Ms Mizzi Liang has been controversial from the very first day, after she was given a direct appointment by the government to act as Malta’s envoy for Asia.
Back in September 2013, Times of Malta had reported that Ms Mizzi Liang would receive a financial package normally given to ambassadors. Sources had told this newspaper the salary and global emoluments given to a Maltese ambassador in China were close to €100,000 a year; just over €8,000 a month.
However, later claims put the figure at €13,000 a month.
‘To destroy my husband, I’m an easy target’
More recently, The Malta Independent filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act requesting information on her contract, but this was refused.
Throughout all this, Ms Mizzi Liang remained silent and attempts to contact her proved futile.
Visibly nervous, she finally conceded to speak to the media in Guiyang yesterday and insisted that, despite the hurtful comments, she believed she had landed the job because she was the best qualified, not because she was the minister’s wife.
“I feel very upset. I’ve never been treated like this in my life. When you see yourself in the newspaper and it’s so bad. If they wanted to destroy my husband I’m an easy target,” she said.
Back in Malta, speaking on the fringes of an energy conference, her husband said the rumours had hurt him “politically” as well as singled out his wife personally.
“Baseless allegations like this are bound to hurt you personally. In my case they could have caused me political harm too,” the minister said.
Asked why Ms Mizzi had chosen not to give the press her side of the story before, the minister said he does not interfere in his wife’s affairs. “I stayed three steps back,” he said. Moreover, he chose to stay out of it as Malta Enterprise did not fall under his remit.
Defending her position, Ms Mizzi Liang insisted she had the qualifications and relevant experience for the job.
“In Malta I think I’m the best choice for this position because I understand the Chinese culture, I speak the language and I have the necessary work experience. In a country of some 400,000, maybe 400 speak Chinese and when it comes to relevant work experience this number goes down to 100. I believe I have the best qualities from all those people for this job,” she added.
Asked to explain her contribution to Maltese Sino relations, Ms Mizzi Liang that since October she had been working on numerous projects, including focusing on luring a top digital company to Malta. Building on what the Prime Minister told the media earlier (Ms Mizzi Liang said this company was interested in establishing a free trade zone centre in Malta. The company’s top management are expected to visit Malta in September.
“This company is looking to set up a showcase for all Chinese products in Malta so that European countries will not need to travel to China to see their goods but they can just go to Malta, which is on their doorstep,” she said.
Ms Mizzi Liang was also involved in facilitating discussions between the government and Chinese bankers interested in investing in Malta – they will be flying to Malta in October for further talks.
She is also pushing to speed up the process of visa applications for Chinese tourists seeking to holiday in Malta, following numerous complaints about the delay compared to other EU member states.
“France will give you a visa within 48 hours, while Italy has it within four days. Malta is at the bottom of the list – it takes from 15 days to two months, which is quite long,” she said.
Asked why her salary package had remained such a big secret for so long, Ms Mizzi Liang insisted this was not the case.
“It was never a secret, nobody was asking me anything. They just reported these things on the newspapers. Nobody asked me to provide an FS3. I wanted to speak out, but I’m mostly in China and didn’t know what to do,” she said.
Ms Mizzi Liang also spoke about how hurt she was by the spiteful remarks bandied about on her family background; attacks she believed were only inspired by her nationality.
“First they said I’m the daughter of a top communist leader, which is not true. After that they said I came from the poorest family in the village and I was a gold digger. They wouldn’t tell a Maltese these things. Today I feel better for speaking out.”
Additional reporting Ivan Martin.
PN stands by its pay claims
The Nationalist Party yesterday stood by its claim that Sai Mizzi’s financial package, including salary and perks, added up to €13,000 a month.
“What’s most remarkable is this information has been in the public domain since October 2013 and only now is it being disputed,” the party said.
It pointed out that if her claims of earning €3,000 a month were true – which was not the case – “only her political masters are to blame for regularly refusing to publish her contract,” despite repeated requests in Parliament and by the media under the Freedom of Information Act.
“Taxpayers deserve to be told how much they are paying for Dr Mizzi’s wife’s prolonged stay in China. The government’s lack of transparency is astonishing and flies in the face of its electoral commitments,” the PN said.