A law enforcement official yesterday confirmed that investigators had raided a company suspected of shipping banned machinery to North Korea via a Chinese firm with ties to Pyongyang's military.
The owner of the firm, Ho Li Enterprises, said that two computer-controlled machine tools used in the manufacture of engines were shipped to North Korea earlier this year, but said he was unaware he had broken the law.
The owner, surnamed Huang (黃), said that his company's premises were raided in July by law enforcement officials acting on a tip from the US government.
The law enforcement official confirmed the shipment and raid had taken place but did not discuss US involvement. The American Institute in Taiwan declined to comment on the claim, but said it cooperates closely with Taiwan on enforcing export controls and stemming the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The raid took place as the administration of US President Barack Obama was working on a new set of sanctions against North Korea that were unveiled last month, targeting the assets of individuals, companies and organizations allegedly linked to support for its nuclear program.
North Korea has repeatedly tried to circumvent international strictures designed to stymie its production of missiles and nuclear material and other weapons of mass destruction.
Taiwanese companies are no strangers to sanction-busting attempts. Early last year, Shanghai's Roc-Master Manufacture & Supply Co ordered pressure gauges with possible nuclear weapons applications from Taiwan's Heli-Ocean Technology Co. Using backdated purchase orders, the Chinese firm had Heli-Ocean ship them to Iran. The transaction violated international sanctions on exporting sensitive equipment to Tehran, which many in the international community suspect is trying to make nuclear weapons.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Huang said the machine tools were originally ordered “more than a year ago,” but were shipped only after Ho Li's Chinese client, Dandong Fang Lian Trading Co in China's Liaoning Province, was able to pay for them.
While acknowledging that the tools ended up in North Korea, he said he had no idea how they would be used or why they would appear on any list of sanctioned items.
The North Korean machine tool deal was first reported yesterday in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper). An official with the Taipei branch of the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the machine tool shipment violated international sanctions and Taiwanese trade laws. He did not identify the items in question or specify why they violated sanctions.
He said that Dandong Fang Lian is managed by a North Korean national with an unspecified connection to the North's military, and that the machine tools had ended up in the North's Sinuiju region, across the Yalu River from Dandong. Sinuiju is the gateway for most Chinese goods entering North Korea.
“Ho Li sold two machine tools ... without reporting to the authorities that the equipment was really going to North Korea,” the official said. “We became aware of the violation and when we raided Ho Li in late July, we found e-mails and money transfer documents to prove our case,” the official said.
Huang said Dandong Fang Lian specializes in diesel engines and power generators, and that while he had done business with the company before, that was the first time he had shipped machine tools to the firm.
“I am cooperating with the government in its investigations,” he said.
Neither Ho Li nor Dandong Fang Lian appears on a US list of sanctioned companies.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese