A probe into the scandal-plagued Kaohsiung MRT construction project found no evidence that the officials responsible for the adoption of the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model for the project had any conflicts of interest or were negligent. Those officials included Premier and former Kaohsiung mayors Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Wu Den-yih (吳敦義).
But the "Kaohsiung MRT Investigation Report" found that the former vice chairman of the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC), Chen Min-hsien (
Chen abused his power to help Tieng Cheng Co win 11 contracts out of 14 public biddings for concrete construction.
The report was conducted two weeks ago by a five-member investigative team.
During a press conference held to announce the results yesterday, acting Kaohsiung Mayor Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) said the report was based on an investigation into written statements and interviews collected by the team. It also talked to Hsieh and Chou Li-liang (周禮良) -- a Ministry of Transportation and Communications vice minister and former director general of the Kaohsiung Department of Rapid Transit Systems.
"The report is fair and objective," Yeh said. "There has been absolutely no politics involved in the investigation."
According to the report, the the central government and the city government reached a consensus to adopt the BOT model for the project.
"Since there were no specific private companies involved in the decision-making process back then, it is hard to say that there was any conflict of interest," Yeh said.
The report did find "administrative misconduct" in the management of Thai laborers.
The report said there was no evidence of "misconduct" by Hsieh, Wu or former acting mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁). But it did not address whether they should be held accountable for their part in adopting a BOT model that many consider to have been flawed.
Yeh said that the prosecutors and the courts will follow up on possibly illegal activities uncovered by the probe.
"The report will not comment on whether the whole decision of the BOT model was right, and we will leave further investigation to the judiciary," she added.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,