Former navy commander-in-chief chief Yeh Chang-tung (
Yeh's rebuttal, however, raised more questions about the role former president Lee Teng-hui (
In the impeachment report, the Control Yuan blamed Yeh for failing to give then-president Lee warning of the navy's shift from South Korea to France for the provision of a new generation of fighting ships.
Citing written records of regular meetings between Lee and military leaders between 1990 and 1991, the report suggested that Lee did not seem to know the navy had canceled a plan to buy warships from South Korea even on the day Taiwan's military started negotiating prices with representatives from France for six Lafayette-class frigates.
In records of a meeting with military leaders dated Aug. 6, 1991, the report said, Lee was still giving instructions to the navy about the already-aborted plan to buy South Korean-made ships, asking them to take care of the case and make a written report to him. Taiwan and France began talks on the cost of the Lafayette ships on the same day.
Yesterday, however, Yeh brought up contradictory evidence that showed Lee should have known about the Lafayette purchase much earlier than the Control Yuan presumes in its impeachment report.
"On Dec. 18, 1990, I reported to then-president Lee on the progress of the Lafayette deal. Lee told me to speed up the work to get the contract signed as soon as possible," Yeh said.
"I never kept anything about the Lafayette deal from Lee as the Control Yuan has suggested. An examination of the written records of Lee's meetings with military leaders during that [two-year] period will reveal the truth," he said.
"In another meeting with the president on Aug. 6, 1991, I was told by Lee that South Korea had a different type of warship from that which Taiwan was initially interested in buying," he said.
The "Puhsiang-class" ship referred to is a light warship of 1,200 tonnes, smaller than the "Weishan-class" type which Taiwan had once wanted to buy.
"Lee asked me whether it would be possible for the navy to buy a couple of Puhsiang ships for the sake of improving diplomatic relations between the two countries," Yeh said.
"I told Lee the navy did not have any extra money for the two ships since it had to use the weapons purchase budget on the Lafayette-class and Chengkung-class frigates."
With all the evidence, Yeh said "It is very clear that Lee was very well-informed about the Lafayette purchase deal."
According to former chief of the general staff Hau Pei-tsun (
Hau sent a cable back to Taiwan during the trip, asking authorities concerned to defer the plan to buy ships from South Korea. Hau said at a recent press conference that he told Lee right after his return to Taiwan about France's intention to sell warships to Taiwan.
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