Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday reaffirmed his innocence after he was charged with disclosing classified information.
“Legislators can get away with peddling their influence, but the people who uncovered the scandal have been prosecuted. Where is the justice?” Ma said. “I will definitely appear in court to fight for justice. The prosecutors did not take into account the statements I provided on the case.”
Huang had revealed details of a probe into two prominent members of the legislature, which could have erupted into a “world-class scandal,” Ma said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The information was relayed to former premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) because the scandal would impact the relationship between the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan, which would hinder legislation proposed by the former, and because there would have been a Cabinet reshuffle after the scandal was made public, Ma said.
“I involved Jiang and Lo mainly for crisis management. In case [the scandal] broke, we [had to know] how to deal with the ensuing issues,” Ma said. “I am confident in my innocence and expect the court to make the correct decision in the spirit of justice.”
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), one of the lawmakers involved in the probe, commended the prosecutors for showing moral courage.
“This is a long-awaited moment. This is also a constitutional moment, in which Taiwan’s constitutional governance is reborn,” Ker said. “Ma was clearly aware of the constitutional separation of powers, but he used the case for political ends. In any nation, the president would have to step down if he was found colluding with the prosecutor-general on illegal wiretaps and intervening in a [judicial] case.”
Having filed a lawsuit against Ma over the wiretapping case, the result of which is to be announced on March 28, Ker called on Ma to admit to his crimes and take responsibility to preserve his legacy.
Fromer legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), the other lawmaker involved in the probe, said that he had not engaged in any illegal activity and remained calm about Ma’s prosecution.
“When the incident began on Sept. 6, 2013, I dealt with it with the same calm attitude,” Wang said. “I have a clear conscience, so I remain unperturbed.”
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to
BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea An unpublicized joint military exercise between Taiwan and the US in the Pacific Ocean last month was carried out in accordance with an international code, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. According to a Reuters report citing four unnamed sources, the two nations’ navies last month conducted joint drills in the Western Pacific. The drills were not made public at the time, but “about half-a-dozen navy ships from both sides, including frigates and supply and support vessels, participated in the days-long exercises,” Reuters reported, citing the sources. The drills were designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and resupplies,
‘MONEY PIT’: The KMT’s more than NT$2 trillion infrastructure project proposals for eastern Taiwan lack professional input and financial transparency, the DPP said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would ask the Executive Yuan to raise a motion to oppose the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ infrastructure proposals and prepare to file for a constitutional interpretation if the KMT-dominated legislature forces their passage. The DPP caucus described the three infrastructure plans for transportation links to eastern Taiwan proposed by the KMT as “three money pit projects” that would cost more than NT$2 trillion (US$61.72 billion). It would ask the Executive Yuan to oppose public projects that would drain state financial resources, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said. It would also file for
SELF-SUFFICIENCY: The project would only be the beginning, as Taiwan needs at least 120 satellites to ensure uninterrupted communication, Wu Tsung-tsong said The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday said it plans to launch six low Earth orbit satellites starting in 2026 as part of the government’s plan to boost the resilience of the nation’s communications. The development of the technology gained attention after Ukrainians were able to access the Internet through Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, despite their infrastructure being severely damaged in the war with Russia. Two of the satellites would be built by the government, while four would involve cooperation between TASA and private contractors. “Over the past 30 years, the satellite technology in Taiwan has