Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday accused the government of providing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) military and economic benefits in exchange for allowing President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to make a stopover in Abu Dhabi, but Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials denied the allegation.
KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (
Lin said that the ministry's Vice Minister Chu Kai-sheng (
"I strongly opposed the deal, valued at NT$1.6 billion (US$50.82 million), as that kind of equipment would be useless in the current cross-strait situation," Lin said.
DPP Legislator Tang Huo-shen (湯火聖) denied that Chu had confirmed any arms deal with the UAE.
"Chu said that the ministry would not ink the deal with the UAE without first gaining the necessary budget from the legislature. Lin's question on the purchase plan was not confirmed by Chu," Tang said.
Ministry spokesman Wu Chi-fang (
KMT Legislator Lin Yi-shih (林益世) also accused the Presidential Office of asking Chinese Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to sell 20 percent of its shares to a UAE company to obtain landing clearance for Chen.
"Parris Chang (
Chang said in the fax that the Sheikh was willing to purchase 20 percent of CPC's shares and sign a Memorandum of Understanding with CPC, the legislator said.
Sheikh Harned BinZayed Al Nahyan is the minister of economic affairs for the UAE and the president of International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).
Lin said that CPC's plan to sell 20 percent of its shares, worth NT$30 billion, to IPIC was in return for arranging a stopover.
CPC president Chen Bao-lang (陳寶郎) told a press conference yesterday that CPC had decided not to sell its shares.
Presidential Office deputy Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (
"The Chang fax was just to help the visitor arrange meetings with people while he was in Taiwan. Whether CPC wanted to cooperate with him or release its shares was CPC's own decision," Cho said.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS