The former director of the National Security Bureau's (NSB) special service center, Peng Tzu-wen (彭子文), was reported to have received a stern lecture from a High Court judge yesterday when he appeared in court for a trial in which he is accused of leaking national secrets.
"Try not to be so talkative, because you are a military official," Judge Wang Fu-shing (王復生) was quoting as saying by Chinese-language newspapers, in his remarks to Peng.
When Peng's lawyer referred to Peng as "the general" in the courtroom, the judge snapped, "no titles of office are allowed in my court."
Visibly shocked
Peng and his lawyer seemed visibly shocked by the judge's outburst, the report said.
Peng was indicted in August for leaking national secrets and for potentially putting President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) life in jeopardy, after he disclosed details concerning the deployment of special agents around the president's official residence.
Peng has since been a frequent guest on TV talk shows, using his professional knowledge. He revealed on air details concerning the deployment of special agents' and other plans regarding national emergencies.
Peng told the public that the Presidential Office and the Ministry of National Defense's underground channels would be open on the October 10th National Day, and that two helicopters would be on standby at the Taipei military airport in case of an emergency.
Peng also revealed on TV that he would not "take a bullet for president Chen." Peng is alleged to have leaked the secrets in retaliation after being turned down for promotion. Peng retired as the director of the NSB's special service center in 2003.
Prosecutors have accused Peng of violating the National Secrets Law (國家機密保護辦法).
Peng yesterday told the judge that the NSB and Justice Ministry's Investigation Bureau had illegally recorded his phone calls and that this evidence should be inadmissible in court.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mention of Taiwan’s official name during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday was likely a deliberate political play, academics said. “As I see it, it was intentional,” National Chengchi University Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies professor Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢) said of Ma’s initial use of the “Republic of China” (ROC) to refer to the wider concept of “the Chinese nation.” Ma quickly corrected himself, and his office later described his use of the two similar-sounding yet politically distinct terms as “purely a gaffe.” Given Ma was reading from a script, the supposed slipup
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
The bodies of two individuals were recovered and three additional bodies were discovered on the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑) in Taroko National Park, eight days after the devastating earthquake in Hualien County, search-and-rescue personnel said. The rescuers reported that they retrieved the bodies of a man and a girl, suspected to be the father and daughter from the Yu (游) family, 500m from the entrance of the trail on Wednesday. The rescue team added that despite the discovery of the two bodies on Friday last week, they had been unable to retrieve them until Wednesday due to the heavy equipment needed to lift