Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Speaking outside the legislature, Chang said the Cabinet canceled its plan to fund the company because the leak had damaged the trust between Taiwan and other countries.
The existence of the company could also arouse concerns from other countries, he said, adding that Taiwan Goal had been unable to reach the objectives set by the government.
PHOTO: CNA
He did not specify what these confidential documents were, nor did he clarify which countries had been discussing cooperation with Taiwan Goal.
Chang confirmed the existence of Taiwan Goal on Feb. 15, following a report by the Chinese-language China Times.
The fact that 45 percent of the newly established arms firm's initial capital would come from the Ministry of National Defense (MND) had sparked speculation from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) that the government would seek to profit from the company.
During his administrative report to the legislature on Friday, the premier defended Cabinet policy by saying that Taiwan Goal would not be disbanded.
However, the Cabinet announced a sudden halt to government investment in the company on Saturday after former minister of National Defense Lee Tien-yu (
Chang yesterday again dismissed the pan-blue camp's concerns that the company could make illegal profits from arms trade, adding that the company had not received funding from the government or signed contracts with anyone.
During a question-and-answer session with KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) later yesterday, Chang said the Cabinet would urge the MND to investigate personnel related to the establishment of the company to determine if any were involved in illegal activity.
New Minister of National Defense Michael Tsai (
Meanwhile, Chang said the Cabinet did not have any power to disband Taiwan Goal, adding that the Taipei City Government had the authority over the matter, as the firm is registered there.
Asked for comment, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (
"Taiwan Goal did not file any [registration] application at the city government's Office of Commerce. Moreover, a company cannot be disbanded unless its board members have decided to do so," Hau said.
"I believe [disbanding the company] has nothing to do with the Taipei City Government. No one at the city government doubles as a board member at the firm. Everyone knows this. This is common sense," he said.
In related developments, Tsai yesterday downplayed the impact of the information leak related to the Po Sheng ("Broad Victory") system -- a sophisticated command, control and communications network the government is purchasing from US defense contractor Lockheed Martin.
Tsai was referring to the arrest, by US law enforcement officials on Feb. 11, of three people on charges of spying for China to obtain top secret information on US arms sales to Taiwan over a period of more than two years.
"The Po Sheng system is still under construction. It has not been fully implemented. So far the security [of the system] has not been compromised," Tsai said when responding to questions by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Chun-yee (
Tsai said that the seriousness of the leak would not be known until the FBI had concluded its investigation.
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,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods