The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and the Agency Against Corruption have discovered that National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials bought biometric equipment from China for use in the e-Gates in the nation’s three major airports, sources said on Saturday.
The biometric equipment, which has been in use since 2012 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Kaohsiung International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), allows fast-track passport control for frequent travelers by using biometric verification methods such as facial recognition and fingerprint identification, and might have been compromised by China-made software and equipment, sources told the Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times) on condition of anonymity.
The allegation has alarmed government investigators and security experts, who fear the e-Gates would be vulnerable to hacks by China or other groups seeking to obtain privileged information, or to circumvent travel restrictions on criminals or others, sources said.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
The Public Construction Commission’s regulations bar the purchase of equipment or technology from China that are “of a sensitive nature or might affect national security.”
Investigators reportedly suspect the bid for e-Gate computers and software was rigged by Transtep Technology Group (跨越科技) owner Lee Chi-shen (李奇申) and then-immigration agency information section chief Shih Ming-te (施明德), sources said.
They said investigators suspect Lee conspired to fix the bid for e-Gate computers and software as early as 2009.
Lee allegedly arranged for other industry figures to submit bids on his behalf and surreptitiously dictated the technical requirements of the project by writing the code for the border control’s operating system, sources said.
While e-Gate contractor Ho Fan Co (和範) is nominally a Fuji Xerox subsidiary, Transtep Technology was in control of all business related to the e-Gate contract, sources said.
TECO Smart Technologies Co (東元捷德), which supplied the e-Gate equipment to Ho Fan, allegedly imported the machines from China and then claimed they had been manufactured in Taiwan, the sources said.
Prosecutors and anti-corruption officials are concerned that Lee appears to have held a monopoly on the government’s procurement of e-Gate systems, they said.
There are fears that Lee might have knowingly or unknowingly compromised the border control apparatus via pre-installed backdoors, which could be exploited by a third party, sources said.
Lee is suspected of having connections to “specific individuals” in China and was known to have sent personnel to Shenzhen for “training,” raising fears that Lee had “nullified” the nation’s border controls and endangered travelers’ privacy, they said.
The sources said Lee and Shih are suspected of involvement in no fewer than seven allegedly rigged tenders over the past eight years and there are concerns the two men might have been acting under the instructions of others.
Shih and former immigration information section chief Chen Ying-chieh (陳英傑) were among the 41 people questioned last month by prosecutors in connection with the suspicious contracts.
Prosecutors in Taipei yesterday would only confirm that an investigation is underway.
Additional reporting by CNA
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique