President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday downplayed the potential impact of alleged information leaks to China by former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), calling it a “ripple in the strong wave of cross-strait developments.”
The remark follows his comment the day before comparing Chang to a “pest” in cross-strait ties that has to be eliminated — the first time Ma responded to the weeks-long scandal.
The president said the suspected leak was just a “ripple” that would not affect cross-strait developments, adding that Taipei and Beijing currently enjoy the “most stable period in cross-strait relations over the past 65 years.”
Photo: CNA
Speaking at a ceremony to mark Armed Forces Day, the president said the government would continue its efforts to promote cross-strait relations, but it has to be predicated on mutual respect and legitimacy for it to be in the interests of Taiwan and its people.
Separately yesterday, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus called on Ma to report to the Legislative Yuan on the state of the nation after the legislature’s plenary session commences on Sept. 12, saying that since the president had likened Chang to a “pest,” he should explain who had nurtured the “pest” and allowed it to grow.
TSU caucus whip Lai Chen-chang (賴振昌) said that since Ma is the head of the state and, according to the Constitution, the highest person in charge of the national security system, and Chang was officially appointed by the president to take charge of cross-strait negotiations, Ma has to report to the nation since he was the decisionmaker and an interested party in the case involving national security.
TSU Legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安) said that Chang, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) and the Presidential Office have changed their stories several times since the dispute broke out, and the whole brouhaha has already caused damage to national security, cross-strait developments and diplomatic affairs.
Chou said Ma has been unapologetic and has acted as if nothing has happened, when he should be held accountable.
The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday also ran a headline story claiming that Chang’s trusted assistants might have released at least 30 confidential documents to a Taiwanese businessman, who handed them over to officials at China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
The report said the Investigation Bureau found Chang’s secretary faxing from the Mainland Affairs Council office classified documents to a Taiwanese businessman who acted as the middleman between Chang and Chinese officials.
Another assistant of Chang might have also verbally disclosed classified information to Chinese officials, the report quoted the bureau as saying.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office rebutted the report and denied earlier reports saying that Chang had been wiretapped.
Chang was released earlier yesterday at about 2am after being questioned for 12 hours.
Chang’s aide, Chen Hung-yi (陳宏義), and two others who were called in for questioning have also been released.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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