Public prosecutors have detained dozens of military officials and civilian defense contractors for questioning as part of a massive operation yesterday investigating military corruption in which contractors allegedly provided cheap, inferior components from China that were used to produce CM-32 “Clouded Leopard” armored vehicles.
The operation involved raids that resulted in about 60 people being detained, along with the seizure of documents and other evidence at 37 locations across the nation, including the Ministry of National Defense’s Procurement Office, the Ordnance Readiness Development Center in Nantou County and the ministry’s Armaments Bureau 209th Arsenal, which has its facilities at the ordinance center.
Military officials and supervisors of the ministry’s procurement program allegedly colluded with unqualified contractors over a NT$7.6 billion (US$243.9 million) tender package in 2012 to provide chassis and power equipment for the CM-32 vehicles, which were developed by the ordinance center, the military’s main production and maintenance facility for tanks and armored personnel carriers.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The scandal has been reported as a breach of national security and unauthorized disclosure of classified military material, as contractors allegedly employed Chinese workers and had Chinese subcontractors producing parts in the project’s supply chain.
Top executives, managers and accountants of contractors were summoned for questioning by prosecutors, including from Chung Hsin Electric and Machinery Manufacturing Corp (CHEM, 中興電工), Yi Rong Technology Co (億嶸科技), Wei Shuan Co (崴軒) and Chi Fu Industry (啟福工業).
CHEM was contracted for the project after a bid NT$4.8 billion, but the company did not manufacture parts and equipment. CHEM subcontracted the manufacturing portion of the project to Yi Rong Technology, Wei Shuan and Chi Fu Industry.
However, prosecutors said the three subcontractors do not have the certification required in the contract.
The contract specified that all manufacturing had to be done domestically by Taiwanese, prohibiting the contractor and its partner companies from employing Chinese workers or workers from other foreign nations, while no materials and parts from China or other foreign countries were to be used, prosecutors said.
Contractors breached the terms of the deal, prosecutors said.
The deals had undermined national security, while there remains suspicion that military officials received kickbacks and other inducements, prosecutors added.
The investigation is focused on whether military officials were “bought off” during the tender procurement process or during the final acceptance and check phase, prosecutors said.
Equipment and parts for the project were delivered in 2012 for assembly and testing at the 209th Arsenal.
The CM-32 vehicles were reported to have numerous problems, including a high rate of defective parts, leading to a judicial probe, which began about a year ago.
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