The justice and interior ministries said yesterday that they would look into the PFP's role in the disclosure of details of secret accounts at the National Security Bureau (NSB).
Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) said he would forward to prosecutors documents given to him by TSU lawmakers. Prosecutors will then decide if there's enough evidence to justify a search of the PFP's headquarters.
Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) said a meeting would be held next week to determine whether the PFP's behavior in the scandal warrants punishment.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The China Times and Next magazine reported last week that during former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) time in office, the NSB had set up two secret accounts, worth NT$3.5 billion, that were beyond legislative supervision.
The revelations have sparked a war of words between TSU and PFP legislators. Both parties have come out in defense of their leaders, PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) and the TSU's guru, Lee.
The reports in the China Times and Next referred to the two secret NSB accounts as Lee's "private stash." The reports cited information believed to have been provided by the bureau's former chief cashier, Colonel Liu Kuan-chun (
Critics have said the revelations have undermined the nation's diplomatic ties as well as information-gathering efforts in China and elsewhere.
The TSU has accused Soong of masterminding the revelations in an effort to undermine Lee.
Eight TSU lawmakers met with Chen yesterday to provide what they said was "solid evidence" to prove that the PFP had disseminated information about the secret accounts. They said they believe the PFP is still in possession of a large number of confidential documents provided by Liu.
PFP lawmakers said last week they were in possession of documents related to the NSB accounts. They said they turned over all of their documents to the Control Yuan -- the country's top watchdog body -- for investigation.
TSU legislative whip Hsu Deng-koun (許登宮) said he hoped PFP lawmakers would explain how they obtained the documents. He said investigators should search the PFP's headquarters if an explanation was not forthcoming.
TSU lawmakers yesterday said they have several reasons to believe the PFP distributed documents about the NSB's accounts.
They noted that Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), director of the PFP's Policy Research Center, is a former official with the National Security Council -- which oversees the NSB.
They also cast suspicion on Hsieh Chung-liang (謝忠良), the reporter who wrote Next's cover story and the younger brother of PFP spokesman Hsieh Kung-ping (謝公秉). The TSU lawmakers said Hsieh has frequently visited China.
They also claim Soong contacted Liu during a recent trip to the US.
Calling the PFP a "pro-unification party," Hsu accused it of attempting to topple the government and said "the PFP and Beijing share the same purposes."
PFP Legislator Diane Lee (
Other PFP lawmakers said the TSU should provide the evidence to back up its accusations.
Meanwhile, DPP and TSU law-makers presented a petition to the Ministry of the Interior yesterday, calling for an investigation into whether the PFP violated the Constitution.
Under Article 5 of the Constitution, a party would violate the Constitution if its goals or activities endanger the existence of the country or the nation's free and democratic constitutional order.
DPP Legislator Susan Su (蘇治芬) said an investigation into the PFP's actions was warranted because it has undermined national security.
According to the law governing organizations, authorities can issue warnings, demand a group to improve within a set period of time or disband a group if it is found to have broken the law.
A global survey showed that 60 percent of Taiwanese had attained higher education, second only to Canada, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan easily surpassed the global average of 43 percent and ranked ahead of major economies, including Japan, South Korea and the US, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2024 showed. Taiwan has a high literacy rate, data released by the ministry showed. As of the end of last year, Taiwan had 20.617 million people aged 15 or older, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total population, with a literacy rate of 99.4 percent, the data
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
NEW LOW: The council in 2024 based predictions on a pessimistic estimate for the nation’s total fertility rate of 0.84, but last year that rate was 0.69, 17 percent lower An expected National Development Council (NDC) report expects the nation’s population to drop below 12 million by 2065, with the old-age dependency ratio to top 100 percent sooner than 2070, sources said yesterday. The council is slated to release its latest population projections in August, using an ultra-low fertility model, the sources said. The previous report projected that Taiwan’s population would fall to 14.37 million by 2070, but based on a new estimate of the total fertility rate (TFR) — the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime — the population is expected to reach 12 million by
RSS