Taiwan High Court Prosecutor General and convener of the "Black Gold Investigation Center" Lin Jie-der (林偕得) yesterday confirmed that prosecutors have issued the order for the arrest of arms dealer Andrew Wang (汪傳浦) on the charge of murdering former navy captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓).
Meanwhile, a PFP legislator made the sensational allegation that Minister of National Defense, Wu Shih-wen (
Andrew Wang was an agent of the Lafayette manufacturer, Thomson CSF, in Taiwan. He had allegedly offered a bribe of NT$9.5 million to former naval captain Kuo Li-heng (
Wang fled Taiwan a few days after Yin's death in December 1993, and is reported to be living in the US and holding a US passport.
"Wang is wanted for bribery and obtaining military secrets, and now a murder charge is added to the arrest order, " Lin said.
Wang has been under suspicion of involvement in Yin's murder. But prosecutors have been unable to get him back to Taiwan for questioning.
This month five former and incumbent naval officers have been detained on corruption charges for their alleged involvement in corruption surrounding the Lafayette frigate purchase.
Meanwhile, PFP Legislator Lee Ching-hua (
"A defense ministry internal investigative report on Yin's case was completed at the end of last year, and it shows that the military suspected Wu and Chin were involved." Lee said in a press conference yesterday at the Legislative Yuan.
The ministry, however, said it was opting not to respond to these accusations, because "the case is now sub judice."
It was disclosed by the media last week that the special investigative force investigating the Yin murder and related weapons purchase scandals is focusing on two incumbent high-ranking naval officers and, in order to protect the identity of the two, their names have been replaced for the investigation's internal purposes with code names with pronunciations similar to their actual names. One has been named "Wu Szu-chih" (吳思治) and the other "Ching Chih-ping" (荊治平).
At his press conference Lee Ching-hua announced "Wu Szu-chih' is Wu Shih-wen; Ching Chih-ping' is Chin Feng-hsiang."
Lee said that when Chin was the ordnance department chief of the naval General Headquarters in 1992 he visited an Italian arms company under the arrangement of arms dealers and was "entertained" by the Italian company, which produced 76mm guns.
Afterward, Lee said, Chin led the purchase of the Italian 76mm guns for the vessels. The price that Chin reported for the guns was US$3.4 million each, while Taiwan's military envoy in Singapore reported that the price Singapore paid for the exact same weapon from the same company was US$2.5 million each, Lee said.
Lee said that Chin actually controlled all purchases being dealt with by the naval weapons procurement office, of which Yin was the executive general.
"If Yin had been planning to reveal all purchase scandals in the Navy, `Wu' and `Ching' would have been badly affected. It's possible that Ching, in Wu's name, commanded someone to silence Yin and Yin was killed by mistake," Lee cited the alleged report from the defense ministry as saying.
He requested that Chin be suspended from his post and that Wu provide an explanation.
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