Legislators from across the political spectrum voiced concern over possible breaches of national security after Lao Tse-kang (勞則康), the father of disgraced 601st Air Cavalry Brigade Lieutenant Colonel Lao Nai-cheng (勞乃成), faced a legislative hearing yesterday.
Lawmakers tied Lao Tse-kang, a retired top-ranking officer who was deputy chief of staff at Army Command Headquarters, to China during the hearing where he apologized for his son’s role in allowing a group of civilians onto an air force base where they took photographs sitting in an Apache AH-64E helicopter and posted them on Facebook, an incident that has tarnished the image of the military.
At a news conference after the hearing, the senior Lao said his son would cooperate with the investigation and face any legal consequences, while asking that he be given a second chance.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
However, legislators were more concerned over Lao Tse-kang’s purported links with China, asking questions regarding possible leaks of the helicopter’s hardware, software and the weapons systems.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said she had information confirming reports by some military experts and netizens that Lao Tse-kang had intimate Chinese business ties after moving across the Strait and operating a petrochemical company there for about two decades.
“The senior Lao retired from the army in 1987 and moved to China in 1988, setting up a petrochemical company in Hangzhou City, Zhe-jiang Province,” Lo said. “However, the law says any retired military officers with previous access to materials concerning national security must wait at least two years before visiting China.”
“I find it incredulous that Lao [Tse-kang] has close business ties in China, yet his son was in charge of the most advanced weapons system in Taiwan,” she said.
“We should fully investigate this matter,” Lo added.
The petrochemical industry is highly regulated by the Chinese government, and experts and netizens have posted news reports that indicate Lao Tse-kang attended industry and political meetings in China, suggesting he has cultivated relationships in Chinese business and political circles, Lo said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) also questioned military officials at the legislative session.
“We know that Lao [Tse-kang] went to China and started a petrochemical business there after retiring,” Chen said. “Why did the military not make background checks on his son? Do you not know he is handling the most advanced US attack helicopter, which has many highly classified weapons systems?”
“With his father’s good relationships in China, many people believe there is a chance that Lao Nai-cheng leaked classified military information to China,” Chen said. “His family’s connections in China cannot be discounted.”
“I see this is a very dangerous situation,” he added. “I see that the military has been too lax and negligent in protecting national security.”
KMT Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) said that when Lao Nai-cheng took the Apache’s interactive helmet off the base to wear at a party, there was a risk that signals it emitted could be picked up over a smartphone app and passed on to Beijing.
China is famous for stealing technology and building copies through reverse engineering, Ma said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique