Dozens of investigators raided former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) office yesterday morning after allegations surfaced that he had illegally removed boxes of classified government documents from the Presidential Office when he left office two years ago.
The search by the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigation Panel (SIP) resulted in the removal of almost 60 boxes of files from the ex-president’s former office on Guanqian Road in Taipei and his new office on Linyi Street, office director Chen Sung-shan (陳淞山) said.
Chen Sung-shan told the Taipei Times that the former president had yet to learn about the search, which he called political manipulation efforts aimed at diverting public attention away from a string of scandals surrounding the Taipei International Flora Expo and undermining the Democratic Progressive Party ahead of the year-end municipal elections.
‘AMBUSH’
“It was an ambush. We had no time to prepare or answer their questions. Since when did prosecutors suddenly become so efficient?” he asked. “We couldn’t even get a lawyer on the scene in time.”
According to office aides, Chen Sung-shan was brought in for questioning on Tuesday as a witness over the contents of the boxes, after which a search warrant was issued by the SIP.
Attention was first drawn to the issue in June after the former president’s staff wrote to the Presidential Office asking how they should handle 20 boxes of official documents they had found.
The Presidential Office asked in writing for the return of the documents, but on Aug. 10 and again on Aug. 31, Chen Shui-bian’s aides said they would have to consult with the former president — something that was expected to take place later this week — to ask for his approval before the documents could be retuned.
“We decided to search the office because of a pressing need to preserve evidence,” said Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), a spokesman for the prosecutors.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Last week, the Presidential Office took legal action to reclaim the documents, saying Chen Shui-bian would have breached security protocols and endangered national security if the boxes contained classified information.
The Presidential Office and the SIP filed a lawsuit against Chen’s office on charges that the former president may have broken the Criminal Code.
If found guilty, the former president could face another jail term of up to seven years, on top of his 20-year-sentence from the Taiwan High Court over corruption charges.
The legal problems could come as a further blow to Chen Shui-bian, who saw his former presidential courtesy treatment, including a monthly allowance and other annual subsidies, revoked by the legislature last month.
His son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), who is running for the post of Kaohsiung City councilor as an independent, has said the amended law could spell financial trouble for the former first family and that the operations of his father’s office could be cut back or shut down altogether.
Chen Shui-bian and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), were convicted last year of embezzling state funds, forgery and laundering money through Swiss bank accounts. The verdict has been appealed to the Taiwan Supreme Court.
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling, AFP and CNA
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
RSS