Senior officers from the navy yesterday said they have sent a formal letter to the French government, requesting an explanation of allegations raised by opposition lawmakers that Taiwan was charged more than Singapore for six Lafayette-class frigates in a deal brokered in 1991.
The allegations are just the latest in a series of charges that have been brought to light in a procurement case full of intrigue, accusations of US$760 million in kickbacks and even murder.
"The letter was sent on March 10. We want to know if Singapore bought Lafayette-class frigates at one-third the price the French government charged Taiwan for the same product," said Rear Admiral Lei Kuang-shu
PHOTO: HAKU JUI-PO HUANG, LIBERY TIMES
"We also want the French government to give an explanation regarding the alleged multi-billion kickbacks in connection with the US$2.7 billion Lafayette frigate sale between Taiwan and France in 1991," he said.
Lei made the statements yesterday in response to inquiries from the press over the alleged kickback scandal, which received renewed media attention after the arrival in Taiwan of Christine Deviers-Joncour, the ex-mistress of former French foreign minister Roland Dumas.
Deviers-Joncour said she came to Taipei to push for a separate Taiwan investigation into alleged kickbacks over the sale.
Dumas, 77, is being investigated for allegedly benefitting from commissions worth US$10 million paid by oil group Elf to Deviers-Joncour in an attempt to have him reverse his opposition to the sale.
The former state-owned oil company Elf had lobbied the French foreign ministry on behalf of Thomson-CSF, which built the six frigates for Taiwan.
Dumas, who is to be tried in June on charges of conspiracy and fraud in relation to corruption at Elf, said in a recent interview with French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur that investigators should be looking into kickbacks made when Thomson sold the frigates to Taiwan.
Deviers-Joncour, speaking through an interpreter, said yesterday that she wanted "the clouds hanging over the case to disperse."
She said she was not sure if any Taiwanese government officials were implicated in the scandal, but she believed there was a link with the 1993 murder of a Taiwan naval captain.
A direct link with the death of Captain Yin Ching-feng (
However, during the investigation, 28 people, including 13 military officers, were arrested and sentenced to jail terms of up to life imprisonment for graft and leaking confidential military information.
Yin, whose body was found floating off the east coast of Taiwan, was believed to be planning to report the leaks to superiors when he was killed.
At the center of the murder investigation was Colonel Kuo Li-heng
Kuo pleaded not guilty and authorities are still searching for Wang.
Defense Ministry spokesman Kung Fan-ding
"The special group has since convened 115 meetings, with the latest one held last Thursday," Kung said.
The defense ministry has offered a NT$30 million reward for information that will crack the murder inquiry and Kung said it would welcome any information provided by Deviers-Joncour.
In February, French magistrates referred Dumas, Deviers-Joncour and five others to trial, including former Elf chairman Loik Le Floch-Prigent and Alfred Sirven, a top company executive who has been on the run for the last three years.
Two French newspapers reported yesterday that Sirven is currently living in the Philippines.
Lei, meanwhile, denied allegations that the six frigates also had design and manufacturing defects.
He said the navy has already answered all questions over the quality of the frigates.
"The navy wants to assure the public that the Lafayette frigates are in good condition and that they are now responsible for the majority of patrol and escort missions in the Taiwan Strait and around the island," Lei said.
"[New Party lawmaker and vice presidential candidate] Elmer Feng
One defense official, who declined to be identified, said Beijing probably obtained all the information it wanted to know about the Lafayette frigates before France and Taiwan signed the deal. The information was bought, not given, the official added.
Meanwhile, Lei admitted that the Lafayette frigate does have a defect in the design of its propulsion system and that all six of the ships are scheduled be overhauled.
The Central Weather Bureau could issue a sea alert for Super Typhoon Mawar, as it is forecast to turn north and come closest to Taiwan from Tuesday to Wednesday next week. Mawar was downgraded from a super typhoon to a typhoon after sweeping across Guam on Wednesday night, knocking down trees and leaving much of the US territory without power. Many residents of Guam yesterday remained without power and utilities after Mawar tore through the remote US Pacific territory the previous night, ripping roofs off homes, flipping vehicles and shredding trees. There were no immediate reports of deaths and injuries, but the
ADJUSTMENTS: Over the next five years, every year except 2026 would have only one makeup workday to compensate for national holidays, the government said The Executive Yuan (EY) yesterday announced the official workday calendar for next year, which includes one makeup day and four holidays with more than three days off. It also announced new standards for makeup days in the event of consecutive holidays. The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration cited the importance of the Lunar New Year and Tomb Sweeping holidays to the public as its reason to mandate flexible off-days. The 115 total off-days dovetail with dates that international financial markets are closed, minimizing the effects of state holidays on stock and currency exchange trading, it said. Over the next five years, only the calendar for
EMBRACE CHANGE: Jensen Huang told NTU graduates that instead of worrying about AI itself, they should worry that people with expertise in AI would be taking their jobs Artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining the computer industry, and Taiwanese companies could play a major role in replacing the world’s traditional computers as they are the foundation of the industry, Nvidia Corp cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said in Taipei yesterday. Huang made the remarks while giving the keynote speech at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) commencement ceremony. AI has created immense opportunities, and versatile companies can be expected to take advantage and boost their position, while less flexible firms would perish, he said. “In every way, this is a rebirth of the computer industry and a golden opportunity for the companies of
‘ARCHAIC’: An interpretation of a law that considered Chinese as Taiwanese nationals was scrapped after the death of a Chinese in Kaohsiung led to state reparations An administrative mandate to consider Chinese as Taiwanese citizens was outdated, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday, a day after the Executive Yuan ordered that agencies disregard the 30-year-old interpretation. Chen made the remarks at an event held by the Environmental Protection Administration in Taipei following changes to the administrative mandate concerning the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例). The previous interpretation of the law was archaic and contrary to the workings of laws and regulations, he said, adding that the order was made to avoid unnecessary problems created by the mandate. The Mainland
RSS