The Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei yesterday said that its government did not have any knowledge regarding reported attempts to poach a Taiwanese lieutenant colonel implicated in the Apache helicopter case.
“The government of Israel has no information on the report which appeared in the Taiwanese media on August 22,” Israeli Representative to Taipei Asher Yarden said in a news release.
Chinese-language media reports on Saturday that claimed Israel had tried to recruit army Lieutenant Colonel Lao Nai-cheng (勞乃成) of the 601st Air Cavalry Brigade with a monthly salary of NT$600,000, because it is planning to expand its fleet of Apache helicopters with acquisition of the newer AH-64E model.
Lao is an Apache pilot and instructor.
The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday said it would not press charges against Lao and 14 other defendants, including several civilians, over civilians gaining access to an off-limits military base in Taoyuan’s Longtan District (龍潭) and one of the newly acquired Apache helicopters based there.
Lao had been under investigation since he took a group of civilians on a tour of the base in March, as well as taking one of the special Apache helmets off base to wear at a party.
The prosecutors said the Taoyuan base had not been categorized as a “vital area” and that the aircraft, helmet and hangar depicted in the photographs taken by one of the suspects, television personality Janet Lee (李蒨蓉), were also not considered classified military information.
The army late on Saturday dismissed the media reports about Israel and Lao as unsubstantiated rumors.
An officer who spoke on condition of anonymity yesterday said that Lao was not upset by the months-long investigation and wanted to stay in Taiwan.
“If the Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission does not remove Lao from his job, the military will then evaluate whether to let him stay in accordance with its own procedures,” the officer said.
Lao was impeached by the Control Yuan and placed on the army’s discharge list after being given two serious demerits.
He is awaiting disciplinary action from the commission.
As to whether Lao would be allowed to resume flying, the officer said Lao must file an application and then an evaluation committee would make a decision based on criteria such as his physical capability and his recent performance.
Additional reporting by CNA
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
The first tropical storm of the year in the western North Pacific, Wutip (蝴蝶), has formed over the South China Sea and is expected to move toward Hainan Island off southern China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. The agency said a tropical depression over waters near the Paracel and Zhongsha islands strengthened into a tropical storm this morning. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 64.8kph, with peak gusts reaching 90kph, it said. Winds at Beaufort scale level 7 — ranging from 50kph to 61.5kph — extended up to 80km from the center, it added. Forecaster Kuan Hsin-ping
RSS