Leaders of the subsidiary of Taiwanese corporation Formosa in the north-central Vietnamese province of Ha Tinh have apologized for a shocking statement made by one of its executives…

…Formosa has been under fire from the public following [the head of its Hanoi office Chou Chun Fan’s] statement during an interview with local media...

The company executive said that the Vietnamese authorities must decide whether to “catch fish and shrimp, or to build a modern steel factory.”

“You win some, you lose some. Even if you are the prime minister, you cannot choose both,” Chou said.

According to the company’s CEO [Truong Phuc Ninh}, Chou's statement was wrong and did not represent the viewpoint of Formosa…

Responding to the reporters’ questions about whether the company is to blame for mass fish deaths in the central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue, Ninh suggested that people should wait for the results of an investigation by "competent authorities."