President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) announcement of a re-launch of investigations into the mysterious 1993 murder of navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓) has proceeded with great momentum and fanfare over the past week, but whether the renewed probe will yield any concrete results still remains to be seen.
This week's renewed efforts were immediately met by infighting between the newly established investigation task force and the military. The two spent a majority of the week arguing over copies of cassette tapes which contain interviews with a key witness already convicted in the case.
While national dailies fueled the building debate over the "new clues" supposedly contained on the tapes, a careful review of the investigation over the past six years shows that what is now being touted as "new clues" are actually old ones.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Ex-Criminal Investigation Bureau director Yang Tze-chin (
Kuo made the confession on July 25 to People First Party lawmaker Lee Ching-hua (
"The pity is that a lot of clues are unavailable because several key witnesses left the country after the murder and cannot be contacted," Yang told the Taipei Times.
While he did not name them, Yang was referring to people like Andrew Wang (汪傳浦) and Tu Cheng Chun-chu (涂鄭春菊). Both have fled the country and now live abroad.
Yang also pointed to the importance of searching bank accounts of individuals suspected of involvement.
"The Yin murder is not an unsolvable case. The murder was a result of a weapons purchase scandal. We are confident we can crack this case as long as we can have access to data about cash flows in the bank accounts of all the suspects," he said.
"This is the biggest difficulty in the investigation. It is very difficult for Taiwan's legal authorities to investigate bank accounts of all the key witnesses who are abroad. As a matter of fact, evidence in this area has never been sought in the past," he added.
A military official, involved in the investigation of the murder for several years, said a crucial problem with the case was that investigators originally presumed Yin had drowned and not been murdered.
"The first week after a murder is the most important period for evidence gathering. But military investigators responsible for finding out the cause of Captain Yin's death missed that chance," said Colonel Yang Wen-hsien (楊文賢), deputy director of the discipline monitoring office of the Ministry of National Defense.
Yang, a member of a military investigation team formed specially for the Yin case, is the son of the country's former top coroner, Yang Jih-sung (
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS