A Control Yuan task force looking into the Lafayette frigate scandal should release its report on the case within three days, an independent legislative candidate said yesterday.
The task force has completed its probe into the case, but says it won't release its report on the matter until after the Dec. 1 elections.
Roger Hsieh (
PHOTO: AFP
"I totally disagree with the task force's decision to postpone the release of the report until after the elections," Hsieh said.
"This is an issue that concerns national security and the death of a Taiwanese naval officer," the legislative candidate said. "It should be our first priority to figure out what's going on with this scandal. How can we wait until after the elections?"
Hsieh also questioned the role of the Control Yuan in the case, saying the investigation of the purchasing scandal was a job for the judiciary.
"I don't understand how the task force can investigate the scandal when it should be a job for prosecutors," he said.
Over the past year, a Control Yuan task force led by Kang Ning-hsiang (
On Nov. 3, Kang said the task force had finished its investigation and was prepared to release its report at any time. But a majority of the group's members decided to wait until after the elections.
"Now that Kang has said the task force has finished its investigation, we would like to ask them to release the report within three days," Hsieh said. "People have the right to know the truth ... don't they?"
Control Yuan member Lin Chu-liang (林鉅鋃), who accepted Hsieh's petition yesterday to have the report released, said the body wouldn't be influenced by political pressure in its work.
Kang said yesterday that task-force members would choose the best time to release the report.
"I can guarantee that we were not affected by any sort of political pressure," Kang said. "But we have to make sure everything is ready before we officially release the report, which is not now."
The Control Yuan task force has interviewed several key witnesses in the Lafayette frigate case, including former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝); Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村), the former chief of the general staff who later became premier; Yeh Chang-tung (葉昌桐), a retired admiral and former naval commander-in-chief; and Lei Hsueh-ming (雷學明), a former vice admiral.
Task-force members have also been to France twice as a part of their investigation.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
PLANE HIT: The Israeli military said it shot down an Iranian Air Force fighter over Tehran, while an Iranian warship sank off Sri Lanka, with no cause known The US and Israel yesterday hit Iran’s capital and other cities in multiple airstrikes on the fifth day of the war with Iran. Israel targeted the Iranian leadership and security forces, while the Islamic Republic responded with missile barrages and drone attacks on Israel, and across the region. Tehran residents woke to dawn blasts and Iranian state television showed the ruins of building in the center of the capital. The Shiite seminary city of Qom and multiple other cities were also targeted. With fighter jets roaring overhead, those still in Tehran looked anxiously to the skies. One man, who ran a clothing shop,
RSS