When the presidential election is over, former president Lee Teng-hui (
"Lee was the president of the country at the time. We need his answers to some of our questions," said Huang Jiunn-ming (黃俊明), the district court spokesman.
Huang said that the case is now being handled by presiding judge Liao Wen-yu (
PHOTO: LUO PEI-TEH, TAIPEI TIMES
When approached by reporters yesterday, Lee said that he would be more than happy to tell the judges everything he knows.
"It is not a bad thing to be summoned. Of course I will go," Lee said.
It will be Lee's second appearance in a court hearing of this nature. On Nov. 12 last year he testified in the hearing about the Zanadau investment scandal.
In addition to Lee, the court is also planning to summon former minister of foreign affairs Jason Hu (
The NSB scandal started with the disappearance in 1994 of US$4.5 million from a secret fund of US$10.58 million to secure diplomatic relations with South Africa. According to prosecutors' investigation, the bureau paid the money to South Africa on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 1994.
On April 4, 1999, the ministry returned a total of US$10.7 million, including interest, to the NSB. The buereau's former chief accountant, Hsu Ping-chiang (徐炳強), allegedly asked former chief cashier Liu Kuan-chun (劉冠軍) to deposit US$7.5 million in the Taiwan Research Institute's bank account.
Liu Kuan-chun is suspected of embezzling more than NT$192 million from the total amount. According to the Bureau of Investigation, he left Taiwan on Sept. 3, 2000, and went to Shanghai. He surfaced in Bangkok in January 2002 and then went to North America. Sources say that he is now in Canada.
On Nov. 17 last year, the Taipei Prosecutors' Office charged Hsu and Liu Kuan-chun with corruption and asked the court for a sentence of 15 years for Hsu and 12 years for Liu.
Liu Tai-ying had allegedly wired the money to Yin's bank accounts in the US and Singapore. Yin then allegedly wired the money to one of Ruentex's bank accounts in Taiwan, after which he "donated" US$3 million of it to the Taiwan Research Institute.
According to Hsu's testimony, he had acted on orders from former NSB secretary-general Yin Tsung-wen (殷宗文). The initial order allegedly came from Lee.
Ting took Yin Tsung-wen's position after he retired. However, Yin Tsung-wen died of adenocarcinoma, a kind of lung cancer, on March 28 last year.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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