The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should report to Taipei prosecutors and explain the charges his administration has brought against former Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Chang Hsieh-yao (張顯耀).
Prosecutors should also subpoena Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), National Security Council Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) and Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦), the DPP said.
Chang is under investigation by Taipei prosecutors for allegedly leaking to China state secrets related to cross-strait negotiations.
Chang has repeatedly denied the accusations, saying he was just a “chess piece” at the mercy of his “superiors.”
Effective measures should be put in place to prevent collusion between Ma, Jiang, King and Wang, who are all Chang’s superiors, DPP spokesperson Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) said.
Ma is obliged to appear before prosecutors over the case not only because he was Chang’s superior, but because he received a letter from Chang — as confirmed by the Presidential Office last week — containing information relating to allegations that Chang had leaked state secrets, Huang said.
The spate of media reports quoting unnamed sources at the Mainland Affairs Council, the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau and the National Security Council may have encouraged collusion among the suspects, as well as the suppression and destruction of evidence to hinder the investigation, he said.
Huang urged prosecutors to apply compulsory measures to preserve evidence, including search, seizure and interrogation of suspects, including Ma.
In response, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) said the DPP should refrain from trying to interfere with a judicial investigation.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
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