Liu Kuan-chun (劉冠軍), the runaway former National Security Bureau (NSB) official, is hiding in North America, not in China, DPP lawmaker Chang Ching-fang (張清芳) said at a press conference yesterday.
Chang said that he has Liu's address and has given the information to the NSB as well as the Bureau of Investigation so they can arrest him in the near future. "Agents are preparing to arrest him," he said.
Chang also said he did not understand why Liu is rumored to be in China.
"This rumor has damaged our intelligence system and has endangered our secret service agents who are currently working in Ch-ina," said Chang. "The main reason for today's press conference is to dispel this rumor and tell our secret service agents to relax because they were not exposed at all. However, we need to catch Liu and bring him back to Taiwan as soon as possible."
In addition, Li Wei-yi (
Asked where Liu is staying, Chang said that he has to keep Liu's location secret to prevent Liu from changing his residence.
However, a Chinese-language newspaper quoted anonymous sources on March 28 as saying that Liu was hiding in Canada and was being watched by NSB agents. Liu has allegedly chosen to hide in Canada because he has a brother living there.
"Our information is pretty reliable," Chang added. "He was seen by some overseas Taiwanese who are living there. I mean, not many people saw him, but his location was spotted, identified, and confirmed by reliable sources. I think it shouldn't be a problem for our investigators to catch him in the near future."
Liu, the former NSB chief cashier, is wanted for his alleged embezzlement of over NT$192 million from Taiwan's secret funds for national security. Chang said that Liu fled overseas and left for Xiamen (廈門), China, on Sept. 3, 2000, and then arrived in Shanghai on the same day. He later fled to Bangkok in January last year, and showed up in a west coast city in North America a few days after he appeared in Bangkok. Reliable sources say that Liu is still in Canada.
"We have no idea how he fled from Taiwan to North America," Chang said. "At this moment, we believe that he used a fake Taiwan passport, but we do not know how he got it. However, since his visa has expired, he can no longer legally enter a third country. That will help investigators arrest him, too."
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
RSS