Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) yesterday accused former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Hsiung Kuang-hua (熊光華) and former Executive Yuan secretary-general Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) of serving as intermediaries for financially troubled Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co.
The shipbuilder has been embroiled in a fraud scandal over a contract that it won from the Ministry of National Defense in October 2014 to build six minesweepers for the military at a cost of NT$34.9 billion (US$1.16 billion at the current exchange rate).
To finance the construction, Ching Fu obtained a syndicated loan of NT$20.5 billion from a group of nine domestic lenders led by First Commercial Bank.
Photo: CNA
However, an investigation initiated by prosecutors in August found that Ching Fu might have used bogus documents to falsify four capital increases that were required as part of the terms of the loan.
The controversy has seen DPP and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers trading barbs over who used their influence to help Ching Fu obtain the syndicated loan, of which NT$15.4 billion had already been disbursed.
Hsiung and Chien served under the administration of then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Wang called for an investigation into Ma and then-vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), now the KMT chairman.
He said that either Ma or Wu must have given the order and prosecutors should summon the two for questioning.
Wang claimed that on Dec. 14, 2015, Hsiung called Chien and then-Bank of Taiwan president Shiau Chang-ruey (蕭長瑞) to the Presidential Office Building for a meeting and instructed the two to apply pressure on banks and other government agencies to facilitate the loan.
Shiau allegedly called a person at the Bank of Taiwan handling loans, after which the bank, which previously said it would not participate in the syndicated loan, announced that it would extend a loan of NT$1billion to Ching Fu.
Wang quoted the person at the bank as allegedly saying: “The president wants it done.”
Hsiung called the allegations “baseless accusations.”
Hsiung said he did meet with Shiau to discuss a petition by the family of former president Yan Chia-kan (嚴家淦) to restore Yan’s official residence, which the bank owns.
Hsiung said that Ministry of Culture Cultural Heritage Bureau Director-General Shy Gwo-lung (施國隆) was present at the discussion.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang and CNA
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS