Impeachment list 'not finalized'

A key Control Yuan task force member yesterday declined to confirm previous reports which said it would include former chief of the general staff Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) on its recommended list of impeachments in connection with the investigation of Taiwan's purchase of Lafayette-class frigates 10 years ago.

While reports on Sunday had said that Hau was on the list, Control Yuan member and convener of the task force to investigate the frigate scandal, Kang Ning-hsiang (康寧祥), would neither confirm nor deny the reports.

"The [Control] Yuan will comprehensively investigate the case. The list of impeachments as revealed by the press was quite a surprise to us. We had not even considered some of the names mentioned in the newspaper," Kang said.

The long-running investigation by the Control Yuan task force was prompted by the murder of navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓) six years ago and its relationship to the naval procurement.

The Control Yuan will discuss the list today when the task force delivers its investigative report. A final decision on the impeachment list with be made in the days to come.

While Hau is not currently in office, any official can be impeached 10 years after he or she has left a public post. Hau was chief of the general staff (CGS) from 1981-1989, minister of national defense from 1989-1990 and premier between 1990-1993.

It was reported on Sunday that Hau is to be impeached by the Control Yuan for arbitrarily deciding to buy six Lafayette-class frigates from France 10 years ago while he was the chief of the general staff of the armed forces.

Reports also suggested that Hau would be impeached because when he made the decision to buy the Lafayette frigates he violated navy purchase policy, which favored a smaller type of fighting ship made by South Korea.

Hau responded strongly to the accusations on Sunday by holding a press conference at his Taipei office to defend himself.

Apparently, Kang's low key response yesterday was in reaction to Hau's defense.

Kang declined to comment directly on whether Hau would be impeached for his decision, saying: "Hau is one of the parties concerned in the case. He has his reasons for speaking on his own behalf."

"We have not finalized the recommended list for impeachment over this case. The impeachment is not to be based just upon the navy's sudden shift from South Korea to France for the provision of new-generation fighting ships," Kang said.

Still it was widely reported in national media that Hau was indeed on the impeachment list.

The reports also said that the list will include nine retired or active-duty military officials.

The reports included the names of ex-CGS Liu Ho-chien (劉和謙), ex-deputy CGS and incumbent Taiwan representative to Austria Hsia Tien (夏甸), ex-navy chief Yeh Chang-tung (葉昌桐), and two other retired generals now being detained for suspected roles in Lafayette procurement irregularities.

Meanwhile, an opposition lawmaker yesterday questioned the justness of the Control Yuan's planned impeachment against ex-military leaders like Hau for the Lafayette case.

"It seems that all the retired generals to be impeached are mainlanders. Why is there no Taiwan-born general on the list? How can ex-navy chief Chuang Ming-yao (莊銘耀) get away with all this?" said New Party lawmaker Elmer Feng (馮滬祥) during a question-and-answer session at a legislative committee.