Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) yesterday declined to apologize after being accused of making “reckless” remarks in response to a report in the ­Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) on Monday that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) motorcade abused its traffic privileges while the president was not in the car.

“I don’t understand what they are thinking,” Wang said. “Doesn’t the Liberty Times, which created a composite photograph that deviated from the truth, owe the public an explanation?”