A ruling by the Taiwan High Court last week, in which former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was found not guilty of misusing his special state affairs fund, inadvertently revealed secret diplomatic efforts by Taipei as it explained in detail how Chen spent state affairs funds to promote relations with other countries.
PRIME MINISTERS
The ruling said that Taipei in the 1990s lobbied former Japanese prime ministers Ryutaro Hashimoto and Junichiro Koizumi to support Taiwan’s efforts to attend the WTO Ministerial Conference on Agriculture — efforts that succeeded in the long run.
The Taiwan High Court on Friday rescinded previous rulings and found Chen and former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) not guilty of corruption, in a retrial of their state affairs fund case.
STATE AFFAIRS
The court said it acquitted Chen of corruption in the case because he had spent more than the funds he received during his terms in office and spent all the money on state affairs.
These included 21 secret diplomacy programs and bonuses to his staff.
In order not to leak national secrets in the ruling, the court used codes to represent Taiwan’s secret diplomatic activities.
These included an invitation by Taiwan to an aide on public policy of former US president Bill Clinton, referred to as “M,” to visit Taiwan; an “S” program to smooth and maintain Taiwan-US communication channels; an “F” program to lobby US government officials on a regular basis; an “L” program to fund the campaign of a member of the US Congress, and “F” and “J” programs to promote diplomatic ties with Fiji and Japan respectively.
DISSIDENTS
The ruling revealed that Chen also funded two Chinese dissidents, whose names were not mentioned in the ruling.
The ruling further said that the National Security Bureau under former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) launched program “S” to strengthen unofficial cooperation channels between Taiwan, Japan and the US and handed more than NT$2.7 million annually to a Taiwanese operative who was familiar with Japanese politicians friendly to Taiwan.
COMMUNICATION
It said that the Taiwanese man had kept in touch with then-Japanese heavyweight senator Shiina Motoo, who maintained communication channels between Japan, Taiwan and the US.
The ruling added that in 2000, Chen paid NT$2 million from his state affairs fund to keep the program alive.
The ruling continued that during the Universal Exposition in Tokyo in 2006, Taiwan sought and won more than 50 exhibitions through diplomatic work with Japan.
HELP GIVEN
Furthermore, when the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna planned to cancel Taipei’s cooperating non-member status because Taiwan was considered to be catching tuna over its quota limit, Taipei asked Mitsuhiro Miyakoshi, then Japanese vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, for help.
Miyakoshi stepped in and after intensive lobbying to the convention, the country was able to keep its cooperating non-member status.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS