A fugitive arms broker and his family were indicted yesterday for their alleged role in illegal activities relating to the procurement of six Lafayette-class frigates from France in 1991.
Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), the Taiwanese agent of French arms supplier Thompson-CSF, his wife Yeh Hsiu-chen (葉秀貞) and their four children were indicted on charges of gaining illegal commissions from the Lafayette deal.
Prosecutors suggested a life sentence for Wang and a 16-year sentence for Yeh. Prosecutors also requested 14-year prison terms for their son Wang Jia-hsing (汪家興) and 11 years for two other sons, Wang Jia-yung (汪家勇) and Wang Jia-ming (汪家明), and for their daughter Wang Jun-ling (汪君玲).
Also indicted were Kuo Li-heng (郭力恆), a former naval captain who has been jailed over another corruption case, and his brother Kuo Wen-tien (郭問天). Prosecutors say that the brothers admitted to accepting a bribe of nearly US$17.6 million from Wang.
Prosecutors suggested a 20-year sentence for Kuo Li-heng and a 42-month sentence for Kuo Wen-tien.
Prosecutors also alleged that the Wang family opened more than 60 bank accounts in several countries to launder the money.
Former senior government figures such as president Lee Teng-hui (
Wang and his family are believed to be in Europe.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
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