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.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
Japanese Councilor Hei Seki (石平) on Wednesday said that he plans to visit Taiwan, saying that would “prove that Taiwan is an independent country and does not belong to China.” Seki, a member of the Japan Innovation Party, was born in Chengdu in China’s Sichuan Province and became a naturalized Japanese in 2007. He was elected to the House of Concilors last year. His views on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — espoused in a series of books on politics and history — prompted Beijing to sanction him, including barring Seki from traveling to China. Seki wrote on X that he intends
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