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Ministry of defense to complete probe of firm Taiwan Goal

Minister of National Defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) said yesterday that the ministry should be able to complete a probe into suspected irregularities surrounding a controversial private arms firm in the next few days.

He said the probe focuses on whether the firm, Taiwan Goal, had been legally established and whether there was any dereliction of duty on the part of military personnel.

Taiwan Goal hit the headlines after a local newspaper reported on its existence last month. The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) later confirmed that Taiwan Goal had registered on Jan. 28 as a private company, with capital of NT$1 billion (US$31.15 million) and paid-in capital totaling NT$80 million. In light of the controversy surrounding the company, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) has said it will no longer receive government funding.

Tsai told a legislative committee meeting yesterday that the ministry is also investigating how Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators got hold of information pertaining to the company's secret talks with France.

Reports have said that former minister of national defense Lee Tien-yu (李天羽), Deputy Minister of National Defense Lin Cheng-yi (林正誼) and Wu Wei-jung (吳偉榮), director-general of the MND's Armament Bureau, will soon be questioned over the leak.

KMT lawmakers reportedly obtained information that Taiwan Goal was engaged in secret talks with France on the procurement of eight minehunter vessels, multi-role fighter jets and other weaponry.

Meanwhile, Tsai said the military had never examined and analyzed four fuses for detonating nuclear warheads sent to Taiwan from the US by mistake.

He made the remarks in response to a question from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) on whether the military had dismantled and analyzed the fuses, given that they had been sent to Taiwan 18 months before the error was discovered.
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