Two government officials yesterday said they met Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co (慶富造船) president Chen Ching-nan (陳慶男) and his son, Chen Wei-chih (陳偉志), last year, but they did not press the navy to expedite a payment of NT$2.4 billion (US$79.58 million at the current exchange rate) for a minesweeper project.
The visit by Chen Ching-nan and Chen Wei-chih to then-New Southbound Policy Office director James Huang (黃志芳) and Presidential Office Third Bureau Director David Lee (李南陽) at the Presidential Office on Sept. 23 last year was the last of six visits the two made to the office since 2010.
The first five meetings occurred during former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, including a meeting on Dec. 9, 2015, between Chen Ching-nan and then-Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Hsiung Kuang-hua (熊光華).
Photo: CNA
The other four visits were made when the office was receiving foreign dignitaries, records showed.
Chen Ching-nan was involved in all but one of the the six visits, while Chen Wei-chih took part in the first and the last.
The records were published by the Presidential Office on Wednesday night, contradicting its earlier claims it had found no evidence of a visit last year.
Presidential Office spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) on Wednesday said that Chen Ching-nan and his son did not meet with any official from either President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) office or that of the National Security Council secretary-general.
The pair met with Huang and Lee in their respective offices and left the Presidential Office Building after 1 hour and 48 minutes, Lin said.
Lee said the minesweeper project was not raised during the meeting, adding that a full report on the meeting had been compiled and forwarded to the Presidential Office.
Lee said that he had asked his secretary to contact Huang’s office after hearing that Chen Ching-nan also planned to visit Huang.
Huang said he handed his visitor logs to the Presidential Office Division of Governmental Ethics on Wednesday afternoon.
Huang said his meeting with Chen Ching-nan had primarily been about cooperation with Indonesian shipbuilders and land developers on Kabupaten Pulau Morotai Island in Indonesia.
“He [Chen Ching-nan] brought up the minesweeper project toward the very end of the meeting, but I thought has was simply complaining,” Huang said.
“I am willing to take full responsibility” if it could be proven that he had contacted the Ministry of National Defense and the Presidential Office as a result of the meeting, Huang said.
Huang said he had not relayed Chen Ching-nan’s complaints to his superiors as it was “not his job.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) called on Ma to clarify the details of the meetings with Chen Ching-nan during his presidency.
DPP caucus secretary-general Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) said that on the same day Chen Ching-nan accepted then-vice president Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) invitation to appear at a state banquet for Guatemala on Dec 29, 2015, then-Executive Yuan secretary-general Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) called for a second round of mediation talks with the company’s creditor banks.
Wu should clarify what happened at the meeting and why the banks, which had refused to provide Ching Fu with a loan, later agreed to the loan, Ho said.
Additional reporting by Peng Wan-hsin
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
Taiwan’s drone exports surged past US$100 million in the first quarter, exceeding last year’s full-year total, with the Czech Republic emerging as the largest buyer, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Exports of complete drones reached US$115.85 million in the period, about 1.2 times the total recorded for all of last year, the ministry said in a report. Exports to the Czech Republic accounted for about US$100 million, far outpacing other markets. Poland, last year’s top destination, recorded about US$11.75 million in the first quarter. Taiwan’s drone exports have expanded rapidly in the past few years, with last year’s total
RSS