Control Yuan team wants answers on Mirage purchase

The Control Yuan team investigating the Mirage fighter plane purchase has asked the deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office, Joseph Wu, (吳釗燮) and other officials to provide further explanations regarding the purchase.

The Control Yuan yesterday provided the relevant years and documentary numbers, and asked the Presidential Office to investigate if it were in possession of any further related files.

Wu said the investigation would be prompt, and that any further materials, if found, would be submitted to the Control Yuan as soon as possible. The Control Yuan hopes to receive an answer from the Presidential Office within two weeks.

In addition, the Control Yuan has passed a resolution asking five members of the Control Yuan, Chao Chang-ping (趙昌平), Lin Shih-chi (林時機), Liao Chien-nan (廖健男), Ku Teng-mei (古登美) and Ma Yi-kung (馬以工), to set up a team to investigative the purchase.

The Control Yuan has previously invited officials from the Ministry of NationalDefense and the Air Force General Headquarters to a closed-door meeting to explain the procedures leading to the decision to purchase the Mirage fighters and the additional budget allocations.

The Control Yuan is of the opinion that several items in the ministry's and the air force's explanations are impossible to clarify.

After the meeting, Control Yuan members told the press that some of the explanations regarding the purchasing, reporting and decision-making procedures were contradictory, and that the Control Yuan therefore had requested the military to provide further documentary information.

In addition to price changes in several reports regarding the Mirage purchase, there is also the question of whether the large additional budget allocations were reasonable. This is something that now must be clarified by the Control Yuan's investigative team, which is already analyzing ministry and air force data.