Former premier Hau Pei-tsun (
"As the then-chief of the general staff, I did not have a predominant position on the arms procurement. The chief of the armed forces [the president] had the final say on the arms bill," Hau told reporters as he left the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office yesterday afternoon.
"I told the navy that it would be good to compare more types of warships before making a final decision. But the conclusion to purchase Lafayette frigates was a naval decision, and I did not interfere in the matter," he said.
Hau served as chief of the general staff from 1981 to 1989. In December 1989 Hau was appointed minister of national defense, and in May 1990 he became premier. He has long been considered the most powerful and influential figure in the military.
The government's original plan in 1988 was to purchase South Korean-made frigates, but in 1990 it decided to purchase the French-made frigates instead.
A special prosecutorial panel is attempting to determine why the government changed its mind.
Earlier this month prosecutors subpoenaed former deputy chief of the general staff Hsia Tien
Hsia accompanied Hau on a trip to France in 1989, when they both visited the shipyard where the Lafayette frigates were built. While in France, Hsia filed a cable during the visit -- on Hau's orders -- asking the navy to suspend its plan to procure the South Korean frigates.
The cable is believed to detail the government's about-face on the ship procurement.
The navy later allegedly began to fake the performance data on Lafayette frigates and inflate their price.
The special prosecutorial panel indicted retired vice admiral Lei Hsueh-ming (雷學明), former head of the fleet control office, and other officials in 1991 on charges of corruption, for fabricating data on the Lafayettes' performance and costs.
Prosecutors questioned former premier Vincent Siew (
Siew had been invited to visit France in 1990, when he was minister of economic affairs. During the trip, Siew had suggested that France could narrow its trade deficit with Taiwan by agreeing to sell fighter jets and warships to Taipei. Siew said he told prosecutors that Hau had not asked him to handle any arms procurement deals with France before his Paris trip.
Prosecutors may subpoena other former policymakers involved in the Lafayette procurement, including former president Lee Teng-hui (
Although Hau hinted yesterday that Lee had been the decision maker for the deal, the former president has previously said that he was not involved in the decision-making process for the warship purchase, and that he did not have the power to interfere with military affairs.
Lee became president in 1988 upon the death of president Chiang Ching-kuo (
The special prosecutorial panel has scrutinized a large number of Swiss court files believed to be related to the kickback scandal.
They include information about 46 bank accounts in the name of fugitive arms dealer Andrew Wang (
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