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
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS