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Council talks about security issues

Antonio Chiang, left, deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council, is surrounded by reporters as he prepares documents during a public hearing on national security issues yesterday. PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES

The National Security Council said yesterday it has so far found no evidence against Peggy Chang (張佩珍), who resigned from the council amid allegations of leaking classified information to Beijing authorities.

PFP Legislator Chin Hui-chu (秦慧珠) invited council officials to discuss concerns over national security sparked by Chang's case at a public hearing yesterday.

National Security Council Secretariat-Director Lieutenant General James Liu (劉湘濱) said at the hearing the council has referred Chang's case to the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau.

He said the council has determined the whereabouts of Chang, who resigned last Saturday.

"She is still at her home. We could not impose travel restrictions on her because so far no evidence has been found against her. Besides, there was no indication she would seek exile," he said.

National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Antonio Chiang (江春男) expressed regrets over the incident and explained the council employed her because it had use for her expert knowledge of Chinese economic affairs.

Chang had devoted herself to research on the Chinese economy for 20 years at the Chung-hua Institute for Economic Research before she joined the council on April 1.

She had served as National Security Council Secretary-General Kang Ning-hsiang's (康寧祥) personal aide.

Her resignation came after a local newspaper reported that her husband had used her name to set up a company in Hong Kong which cooperated with the business arm of China's Ministry of Railways to operate land-development deals in Shanghai.

According to the report, Chang left the company in April because of a shareholders' dispute.

Chiang said investigations continue to determine whether the period of Chang's participation in the Hong Kong company's business overlapped with her service period with the council. Such overlapping was not allowed, he said.

The council will also investigate whether Chang violated the National Security Law (國家安全法) and the Civil Servant Employment Law (公務人員任用法), he said.

Chiang said after employing Chang, the council realized she did not have a recent travel history to China.

But he admitted that her case served as a reminder to the council of the need to step up measures to examine the loyalty of its officials.

Chiang said Kang has already submitted a report on the matter to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Meanwhile, Chang said although her husband had used her name to invest in businesses in China over the past 10 years, she never was involved in any of these deals.

She said she had not traveled to China for three years.

PFP Legislator Chiu Yi, who once worked at the Chung-hua Institute for Economic Research, alleged that Chang introduced her husband to a significant number of Chinese public figures who helped him build up his businesses.

The company Chang's husband had established under her name had been partly funded by Chinese authorities, Chiu said.

He alleged the Chinese authorities did this in order to "help the couple collect intelligence in Taiwan."

Chang denied Chiu's allegations and said she had always merely collected Chinese economic data for her research.

She said she never conducted research affected by any ideology.
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