Taipei prosecutors said yesterday they are investigating a scandal involving financially strapped Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT, 遠東航空) officials who were suspected of bribing Chinese officials to win route rights in China.
Prosecutors said yesterday that Lou Wen-hao (樓文豪), an official of the Taiwan branch of Cambodia’s Angkor Airways Corp, told prosecutors that he had represented FAT officials in wiring around NT$175 million (US$5.7 million) to Chinese aviation authority officials, hoping they could help FAT to win rights at an airport in Wuxi in Jiangsu Province, and an airport in Tsingtao in Shandong Province.
Prosecutors said they are looking for a man suspected of contacting Chinese officials to facilitate the matter, adding that the case is tough because they are unlikely to interview any Chinese officials who checked their accounts.
Prosecutors discovered the scandal as they probed FAT officials over their alleged involvement in an embezzlement scandal.
Lou, former FAT chairman Stephen Tsui (崔湧) and former FAT president Philip Chen (陳尚群) have been detained since late April on suspicion of embezzling NT$2 billion from the airline, throwing the company into a financial crisis.
Prosecutors said they were probing the whereabouts of the missing funds when Lou told them that part of the money might have been used to bribe Chinese officials.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
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