Stressing that he played no part at all in the 1991 Lafayette frigates purchase, PFP Chairman James Soong (
"Lee -- then the head of the nation, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and the KMT party and Chen -- the president and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, are the two people who know the most and have the most authority to order an investigation into the Lafayette case," Soong said at a press conference held at the PFP's headquarters.
"Both Lee and Chen should come forth and address the issue in order so to make it clear to the general public," Soong said.
Soong said that during his tenure as the KMT's secretary-general from 1989 to 1993, he was not empowered to make decisions in the US$2.8 billion purchase of six Lafayette frigates.
"On the other hand, Lee, who then served as president, KMT chairman and the commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces, is the one who should have been the most informed about the Lafayette deal and thus should know the most about to whom he had given the authority to make the Lafayette purchase," Soong said.
"Lee is the one person who must come forth and explain the matter clearly as he shoulders the most responsibility," Soong said.
Soong went on and questioned the lack of progress in the DPP-led government's investigation of the Lafayette case.
"Chen had often asked questions regarding the Lafayette case when he was a legislator and had then vowed to probe into the case no matter what," Soong said. "Now that he is the president and thus has the most authority to order the investigation of the case, how come that there's no sign of a breakthrough in the case since he took office three years ago?"
Soong said that Chen had made no progress on the investigation either because of his administration's "inability" or "an attempt to cover it up."
On the issue of whether CNA had misreported -- due to an inaccurate translation of a French text -- an account that suggested that Soong was the recipient of the US$400 million kickback for the purchase of the ships, Soong said such mistakes happen sometimes.
"If the inaccurate translation was simple a mistake that was not committed out of bad intentions, then we all should drop it and stop stretching it," Soong said, adding that what mattered the most is CNA's attitude when apologizing for its mistakes.
Meanwhile, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday said he had told an investigation task force last year that he knew nothing about a sudden change in the decision to purchase the initially preferred Ulsan-class vessels from South Korea to the French-made Lafayette-class frigates.
It was discovered later on that the frigate purchase involved huge bribes to officials in both Taiwan and China.
In a press release issued from the retired president's office, Lee countered Soong's statements by saying Soong was contradicting reality. He urged Soong to speak with integrity because "a politician should not mislead the public with lies."
According to an investigation report last year, Lee told Control Yuan members that he had feared a coup d'etat if he rejected the top military officials' proposal to buy the Lafayette frigates.
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