An opposition legislator yesterday outlined a complex conspiracy involving the first lady, a fashion designer and the Grand Hotel, saying the Australian government would investigate the matter and prove fraudulent expenses had been recorded by the Presidential Office.
"This might become a diplomatic incident between the two countries," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (
Chiu Yi claims that first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) used receipts she obtained issued by the Grand Hotel to Ligi Lee (李慧芬) -- an Australia-based fashion designer -- to mask her embezzlement of funds from the Presidential Office's special expenditure budget.
Chiu Yi said Ligi Lee had said the receipts totalled NT$3.36 million (US$102,220), and were given to Wu because Ligi Lee's cousin, Lee Bi-chun (
In a brief statement, the Presidential Office denied the accusation, saying only that the receipts were submitted by "a person" who acted as a "go-between" for the nation's de facto diplomatic mission in Australia, who received the receipts from Lee Bi-chun to seek reimbursement from the office.
The statement said that the "go-between" had been commissioned as part of an operation it called the "South Route Project," but it provided no details as to what the project was.
Chiu Yi said he doubted the authenticity of such a project, saying that it was merely a fiction made up by Tseng Tien-tsu (
Because of the Presidential Office's claims, Chiu Yi said, the Australian government was now set to investigate whether officials had accepted money from the office.
Chiu Yi said that Ross Maddock, secretary-general of the Australia-Taiwan Business Council, initially planned to come to Taiwan with Ligi Lee's ex-husband Chiu Ta-wei (
Meanwhile, Chiu Ta-wei returned to Taipei from Australia yesterday.
When confronted by reporters at CKS International Airport yesterday afternoon, Chiu Ta-wei said that he didn't know anything about what Chiu Yi and Ligi Lee had said.
"This is my country. I came back because I had to," he said when reporters asked him why he had returned.
Chiu Yi told the press on Saturday that Chiu Da-wei was returning at Tseng's request.
"Tseng asked Chiu Ta-wei to come back to Taiwan to explain to the media that he had been under orders to carry out the so-called `South Route Project.' And he [Chiu Ta-wei] will take the responsibility on himself for [Lee Bi-chun's] receipt matter," Chiu Yi said.
Chiu Yi quoted Ligi Lee as saying that she knew about her ex-husband's trip because a travel agency had mistakenly faxed his itinerary to her.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said that the ministry didn't have any information about an investigation by Australia into the "South Route Project," saying he hadn't had a chance to check with the Canberra government as of last night.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
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