Kuang arrived in Taoyuan International Airport early yesterday morning amid harsh criticism for being away on a 13-day trip to Europe as leader of a 14-member delegation while her county was being pounded by Typhoon Fung-Wong.

Kuang extended her apology to Taitung residents for being absent as the typhoon devastated her southeast coastal county last week.

The storm brought heavy rains and flooding to central and southern Taiwan, claiming two lives, including one in Taitung, and causing an estimated NT$1.1 billion (US$35.8 million) in agricultural losses.

Kuang also complemented other county officials, including her deputy, for their excellent teamwork spirit in handling the local government's response to the typhoon.

She added that although she was abroad when Fung-Wong made landfall between Taitung and Hualien last Monday, she had monitored information about the typhoon's movement and damage.

Kuang explained that her travels aimed to promote Taitung, which she said was a "dispossessed" place that "no one cares" about in the international community.

However, that explanation failed to calm a storm of discontent with her and Taichung Mayor Jason Hu, also from the ruling Kuomintang.

Kuang and Hu were the only two of the nation's 25 city and county chiefs who were not on the island when the typhoon came.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) blasted Kuang and Hu for "ignoring the most important task of a local government leader," which the party said was to stand together with the people.

Kuang, who took office on April 17, 2006, is the first female magistrate of the agricultural county, an economic backwater. She won the post on April 1 that year with 63 percent of the vote.

Since then, however, her administration has received poor marks. In a survey on public satisfaction with the performance of 25 county and city administrators published in July's Global Views Monthly magazine, Kuang ranked dead last.

Kuang has drawn fire for her frequent overseas visits on the taxpayers' dime. She has flown abroad eight times over the past two and a half years, visiting nine countries: Japan, Egypt, Greece, Hong Kong, Britain, Thailand, New Zealand, Germany and Italy.

Taichung's Mayor Hu earned the highest public satisfaction ranking in the same Global Views Monthly view survey, but was also absent when the typhoon hit his city. At the time, Hu was visiting the Marshall Islands, one of Taiwan's 23 diplomatic allies.

In his first day at work Monday after returning from his trip, Hu urged the public not to "smear" the legitimacy of foreign visits by local government heads.

Hu said he visited the Marshall Islands to help solidify Taiwan's diplomatic ties. He said his visit benefited both Taichung and the nation, and that he never expected to be criticized for the trip.

Members of the DPP caucus in the Taichung City Council yesterday hung banners in front of the Taichung City Hall, claiming that Hu ignored the Taichung residents' safety and well-being during Typhoon Fung-Wong while he was in the South Pacific island nation.

"Hu should be fully aware of his job description as mayor, which is to take care of the Taichung residents and oversee the city's development, rather than promoting Taiwan's diplomacy abroad like a foreign minister," said Chen Shu-hua, a DPP city councilor.