The Control Yuan yesterday confirmed that it set up a special committee last week to investigate news reports that the air force's 1992 deal to purchase 60 Mirage fighter jets involved the payment of kickbacks.
A report in a French newspaper prompted New Party lawmaker Elmer Fung (
Control Yuan member Chao Chang-pin (趙昌平) yesterday told the Taipei Times that the special committee had been established last week and that it was similar to the committee investigating the Lafayette frigate scandal.
Chao said the group comprises five Control Yuan members -- himself, Liao Jiann-nan (廖健男), Ma Yi-kung (馬以工), Ku Den-mei (古登美) and Lin Shih-chi (林時機). Ma and Ku are also members of the committee investigating the Lafayette scandal.
Chao said that Vice Minister of Defense Chen Pi-chao (
According to Chao, Chen said that no kickbacks had been paid to seal the deal.
But he added that "the denial itself is insufficient to convince the public. Since the Ministry of National Defense has not investigated the deal, its attitude is not acceptable."
After the briefing, the Control Yuan members officially formed the special committee on the grounds that the defense ministry had not provided an adequate explanation.
According to several reports in Taiwan's Chinese-language media, the Mirage-2000-5 model which Taiwan purchased cost twice as much as the basic Mirage-2000 model.
The original purchase price per aircraft was to have been NT$42 million, but an increase in that price subsequently caused the Legislative Yuan to budget a further NT$10 billion to purchase the 60 fighters.
When Fung petitioned the Control Yuan to investigate the allegations he also demanded an explanation from former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who, a recent book claims, made the decision to go ahead with the deal in 1992.
"A Mirage-2000 is twice as expensive as an F-16," Feng had said. "Obviously it was a bad decision by Lee which cost the government more money [than necessary]. The products were not as good as we had expected. I think Lee should explain whether there was any personal interest or favoritism involved."
Fung quoted an Oct. 30 article in the French newspaper Le Monde. According to the story, French investigators froze the Swiss bank accounts of Andrew Wang (汪傳浦) -- the former Taiwan agent of French frigate-maker Thomson CSF, now called Thales, and fighter- maker Dasault Aviation -- after suspecting that he had earned NT$11.4 billion in kickbacks connected with the Mirage deal.
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