Charged with leaking state secrets, former Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) yesterday appeared at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office without having received a notice of subpoena from the prosecutors.
“I am here to bring the truth to light,” he said upon his arrival at 10:30am. “All the rumors [alleging] that I have leaked state secrets [to China], divulged where [Taiwan’s] bottom lines were during [cross-strait] negotiations, and given documents classified as secrets to [Chinese officials] are absolutely not true.”
Chang was Taiwan’s second-highest ranked negotiator with China, and concurrently served as vice chairman and secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation, before the Executive Yuan announced on Aug. 16 that he resigned from his posts.
Photo: EPA
Following a string of allegations, mostly made by unnamed sources in media reports after Chang said in a statement on Aug. 17 that he was forced to resign, the prosecutors’ office accepted a request by the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau on Friday last week to look into the charges laid against him.
In front of cameras, Chang yesterday remained tight-lipped over what he said were possible issues he has attended to that led to the accusations, saying that he could not tell the public what he had told the prosecutors because they were state secrets.
Asked whether the government’s failed attempts to schedule a meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had anything to do with his downfall, Chang said he he was not aware of that, but might have “offended someone” when he handled the issue.
“As far as whom I might have offended, the answer is obvious,” Chang said.
A report carried in the Chinese-language Apple Daily newspaper yesterday said that Chang has attributed his ouster to his role in handling the proposed Ma-Xi meeting, based on a handwritten note that Chang held at a press conference on Thursday last week, which was photographed by the newspaper’s photojournalists.
Chang did not read that part of the note at the press conference where he accused Ma of being “hijacked” by a handful of people and being deceived into believing the allegations against him. He also refrained from describing what the issues involved could be at the conference.
Chang advised civil servants to take “necessary precautions” to avoid “ending up like him.”
Chang also offered an apology to civil servants, saying that he felt sadness and regret over the repercussions following what happened to him over the previous week.
“It has sparked fear among civil servants. Everyone is now anxious and cannot relax at their jobs,” he said while leaving the prosecutors’ office after being questioned.
Civil servants could be investigated under the suspicion of leaking secrets if they follow orders from their superiors in handling external negotiations when the orders are not written in a signed and sealed government document, Chang said.
Chang said that civil servants had better not deviate from scripted remarks written on a signed and sealed government document when they engage in negotiations with foreign powers, that they must have government documents securely delivered to their negotiation partners via DHL or other logistics services, such as post offices, instead of personally handing documents to their counterparts, and they must record any telephone calls they make.
“[Doing so] is to avoid facing trials for leaking secrets,” Chang said.
After Chang’s interrogation, Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office spokesman Huang Mou-hsin (黃謀信) said later yesterday that the office has listed him as a defendant and restricted him to his place of residence.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist