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.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS