A document cited by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) when it accused Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of improper involvement in a biotechnology company was altered twice with a “vicious motive” before it went public, the DPP said yesterday.
Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) on Dec. 12 disclosed a document dated March 31, 2007, which the KMT used to accuse Tsai of wrongdoing in the formation of Yu Chang Biologics Co (宇昌生技股份有限公司), now known as TaiMed Biologics Inc (中裕新藥股份有限公司), when Tsai served as vice premier.
Liu apologized the next day for “confusing the dates” of the document, which was actually from Aug. 19, 2007, but denied that she had forged the document.
Photo: Li Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) told a press conference yesterday that Liu and the KMT were suspected of not only altering the date on the document, but also erasing the marking tag of “Attachment No. 3” to cover up the fact that it was one of six attachments to that document.
Liu said her agency confused the date because the document’s Attachment No. 2 was missing, an excuse that Chen described as weak.
The minister — or the KMT — could have intentionally altered the date and removed the attachment marking on the document, which stated that Tsai would be one of Yu Chang’s core leaders, so people would assume Tsai had planned to make an improper profit when she was in government, Chen said.
Tsai served as vice premier from 2006 to 2007 and resigned on May 20, 2007, before being named as Yu Chang’s chairperson in August that year.
“What they did was simple. Whoever did this — Liu or the KMT ... took out Attachment No. 3 from the Aug. 19 document, removed the marking and said it was a March 31 presentation, so the public would believe that Tsai [was guilty of] improper conduct as vice premier,” Chen said. “We wonder who made the alterations. Was it Liu or the KMT legislative caucus?”
“The DPP strongly condemns the forgery,” Chen added , demanding that Liu disclose all six attachments of the Aug. 19 document and explain who altered the document, as well as when and where the document was forged.
Chen also urged the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigation Division (SID) and Prosecutor-General Huang Shyh-ming (黃世銘) to disclose all the documents related to the so-called “Yu Chang case,” which had been seized by the SID, for the public to examine.
Chen reiterated that Tsai’s role in the case was clear — that she wanted to do her best to help with the development of Taiwan’s biotechnology industry and that she never imagined that she would be persuaded by scientists to serve as the company’s chair.
“Liu claimed that the case was complicated because she sees the world through stained glasses,” Chen said.
The evidence that the DPP has provided showed that this was a KMT smear campaign and there could be someone behind the scenes who manipulated the entire case in an effort to discredit Tsai’s presidential campaign, DPP spokesperson Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) added.
“Our question for Liu is a simple one: Why did she pull the attachment from the Aug. 19 document and change the date to March 31?” he said.
At a separate setting yesterday, KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) rebutted the DPP’s allegation, saying the KMT caucus did not alter the copy of the document provided by the CEPD in any way.
National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday said it disqualified a person from an entrance examination for using AI smart glasses to cheat, along with two others for making untruthful statements in their curriculum vitae. The three applicants were given null scores, Taiwan’s highest-ranked university said, calling on prospective students to be honest in the admissions process. NTU registrar Lee Hung-sen (李宏森) said that the cheating applicant wore a hat and thick-rimmed glasses to the second written exam for medical school, claiming that they felt cold. Suspicions were aroused when the applicant stared oddly at the test for long stretches while steadily bringing the paper
MILITARY ISSUES: A partisan divide between the Cabinet and the legislature ‘raised questions about Taiwan’s ability to adequately fund its defense,’ the report said Taiwan’s defense budget, military personnel numbers and resilience are challenges to its ability to meet national defense goals, the US Naval Institute said in a report published on Tuesday. In response to the perception of a growing military threat posed by China, Taiwan has embarked on an effort to enhance the capabilities needed to deter an attempt by Beijing to annex the nation by force, the institute said in the US Congressional Research Service report, titled Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues, which was filed on Thursday last week. Taiwan’s defense budget increased by about 7.5 percent from 2024 to last year, it
NOT JUST NUMBERS: What matters to intelligence work is crucial, reliable information, so even a few credible leads can be highly valuable to national security, a legislator said The National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday said it has finished the establishment of an information-reporting channel for Chinese nationals, the aim of which is to broaden intelligence gathering on China’s political, military, economic and social developments. Chinese nationals can submit information on the Web page, https://report.nsb.gov.tw, the NSB said in a statement. The move aims to expand the bureau’s diverse intelligence sources and is pursuant to the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), it said, adding that it referenced practices adopted by intelligence agencies in the US, the UK and Israel. An increasing number of people are approaching Taiwanese agencies to provide information, as
66 FIGHTER JETS: The aircraft is likely undergoing preparations for its transfer to Taiwan — a significant step forward in the nation’s modernization program, a lawmaker said The first of Taiwan’s order of F-16V Block 70 aircraft has been sighted in Texas ahead of delivery, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said. Taiwan’s first F-16V Block 70 two-seat aircraft, tail number 6831, was seen flying from Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Greenville, South Carolina, to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas, Wang wrote on Facebook yesterday. The plane is likely undergoing preparations for its transfer to Taiwan, marking a significant step forward in the Republic of China Air Force’s modernization program, Wang said, citing military analysts. The F-16V Block 70 is a new-build version
RSS