A Taiwan representative in the UK said yesterday that Russian-made missile parts recently discovered in cargo crates at London's Gatwick Airport, en route to Libya from Taiwan, probably originated from China.
Authorities at Gatwick discovered crates containing missile parts being shipped by Hontex, a Taiwan-based company in November, the Sunday Times newspaper reported two days ago.
The Sunday Times said British customs had seized 32 crates of missile parts, disguised as automotive components, on a British Airways flight at the airport.
Among the parts were components for the jet propulsion system of Scud missiles that could increase a missile's range to 960km.
One Taiwan official in London, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Taipei Times it was likely that China was behind the shipment.
"It is China, not Taiwan, that has Russian-made missiles. Although some media reports suggested North Korea might be the source of the seized Scud missile parts, we think it is more likely that China was behind the smuggling scheme," the official said.
"British authorities are now investigating the case, about which we knew nothing until we read about it in the Sunday Times. But the [British] press is focusing attention on the seizure's possible impact on relations between the UK and Libya, which only resumed diplomatic ties last July," the official said.
"If Taiwan was the source of the missile parts, you'd think the local press would put the spotlight on Taiwan based on clues leaked by police authorities," he said.
The Sunday Times identified Hontex as a company located in southern Tainan's Yungkang township, which it said it tried to reach by phone but only got a "recorded message in Mandarin" saying the number "was no longer in service."
"Taiwan has absolutely no connection with the missile parts seized by British authorities. The most likely scenario is that the Taiwan company identified by Sunday Times as Hontex had been used by Chinese authorities to smuggle the missile parts to Libya," the official said.
Tang A-ken (
"The Sunday Times report was right only about the location of the headquarters of Nanliong. The rest of the description about the company was totally misinformed," said Tang.
"Hontex is only a brand name used by Nanliong, which manufactures textiles. It has never exported its products to either Britain or Libya," Tang said.
"It is incredible that a company like Nanliong could be implicated as the source of the missile parts destined for Libya. We will call on the police and intelligence agencies to look into the case," Tang said.
With an annual revenue of NT$1.22 billion (US$39.87 million) in 1999, Nanliong is ranked 694th among Taiwan's top 1,000 enterprises.
Local customs authorities, meanwhile, said that if the origin of the shipment had been Taiwan, this could be confirmed by an examination of export records at the harbor.
They admitted that it was possible that documents could show the shipment could have originated in Taiwan.
If the missile parts were declared as ordinary export goods, they could have gone undetected, the officials said, as customs officers only hold spot checks for ordinary export items.
Another possibility was if the missile parts were shipped from mainland China and were trans-ferred to another ship at the offshore transshipment center near Kaohsiung, they said, the chances for them to be discovered were even lower, as checks on transshipped cargo were not very strict. This was to facilitate transshipment business. This practice, though aimed at providing convenience to cargo companies, could also contribute to an increase in smuggling, officials said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique