Taipei Times: Why did you become interested in the Yin Ching-feng (
Hsieh Tsung-min (
During this visit, the navy assigned two officers to accompany us -- Captain Yin Ching-feng and Captain Kuo Li-heng (
PHOTO: CHU YU-PING, TAIPEI TIMES
After we returned, Yin remained very friendly with me and Shen and arranged for us to meet with Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Chuang Ming-yao (
TT: How has your understanding of the Yin case changed over the years, especially since it has remained unsolved for so long?
Hsieh: Initially, I thought that the Green Gang (青幫) [an organized crime group with extensive military connections] in the military had killed Yin, but investigators later told me that they believed the Green Gang was not involved.
Later, I came to believe that the case was more likely linked to the French electronics firm Thomson-CSF after investigators discovered that Thomson Taiwan's representative office general manager Andrew Wang Chuan-pu (汪傳浦) and Thomson Japan's general manager Jean-Claude Albessard had left Taiwan shortly after Yin's murder on Dec. 8, 1993.
The special investigative committee has already issued a warrant for the arrest of Andrew Wang on suspicion of murder.
My interest in this aspect of the case was sparked by a report in the Oct. 8 issue of the China Times Weekly, which stated that Yin was murdered at a villa in Chih-shan (
While I cannot be certain about the accuracy of this report, which was supposedly based on information from the special investigation group, I have heard many stories, including that Albessard died in March.
I wanted to understand the whole picture, so I went to Paris last week. We need to listen to all sides of the story, and especially the French side, which we do not often encounter here. So my purpose was to meet people directly related to the case and reporters in France who were covering the case.
TT: The most important people you met were undoubtedly former foreign minster and former president of France's Constitutional Council Roland Dumas and his mistress, Christine Deviers-Joncour.
Hsieh: I found both Dumas and Joncour to be very charming and discussed many aspects of the case, including Dumas' own trial, with them and later with Joncour's lawyer. Dumas related that he had been opposed to the sale on the grounds of France's own national interest, since he believed that China would explode in anger if France sold 12 Lafayettes to Taiwan.
But although he opposed the sale he was the only member of his Cabinet not to visit Taiwan later. Only Dumas has been indicted in relation to the scandal and he feels this is very unfair.
He also told me that French companies paying commissions to foreign governments or individuals in relation to export sales are required to report these payments to the French finance ministry and that the finance ministry has lists of these payments for individuals in Taiwan, the People's Republic of China and the US.
Dumas also suggested methods by which we could get copies of the list for Taiwan. I later met with his lawyer who proposed that we could first use administrative or diplomatic channels or file a legal suit.
While I initially felt that it would be best for President Chen Shui-bian (
TT: How important is this list to the cracking of these two cases?
Hsieh: The list of those in Taiwan who allegedly received commissions would obviously be a decisive piece of evidence, especially in the Lafayette case, by indicating who was earmarked to receive kickbacks. At present no one in Taiwan has seen this list, so we cannot say definitely whose name is or is not mentioned.
Besides exposing those involved in wrongdoing, acquisition of the Taiwan list would also give people who actually did not, in fact, take any kickbacks a chance to clear their names.
Cracking the murder of Captain Yin will remain difficult due to the lack of direct evidence. In addition to Jean-Claude Albessard, another person who could have had knowledge of the case, Thierry Imbot [the son of a former French intelligence chief who was in Taipei from 1989-94 as a "special officer" of the French commercial office in Taipei], died under mysterious circumstances in October in South Africa.
TT: What would be the political impact of breaking these cases in Taiwan?
Hsieh: If these cases can be solved, we will be able to expose many negative aspects of the military procurement system of the past and be more able to prevent future abuses. Resolution of these cases would also be of great benefit in restoring public confidence in the military and raising morale in the ranks of the armed services.
The loyalty of the armed forces to the constitutionally elected government is a critical factor for political stability, and therefore I advocate that amnesty be granted to officers implicated in the Lafayette case so long as they come forward and reveal the true story.
Without such an amnesty or pardon, it will be difficult to overcome remaining fears in the military regarding the attitude of the new government.
We should acknowledge the contribution of these officers to Taiwan's national security by achieving the difficult task of securing the purchase of these ships, even though the methods that were used were not legal or even honorable.
The Lafayette case is a problem left by the old system and we should aim to resolve it and the damage it has caused by striving for "truth and reconciliation," as former South African President Nelson Mandela advocated after the end of the South African apartheid regime.
We want to know the full and real story, but what is most important is reconciliation.
Hsieh Tsung-min is one of the three co-authors of the 1964 book, Declaration of Taiwan Self-Salvation, along with National Taiwan University law Professor Peng Ming-min (
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying