Local media reported yesterday the strategy adviser to the president and former Chief of the General Staff Liu Ho-chien (
Liu is the highest-ranking military official to date to be barred from leaving the country.
Lu Jen-fa (盧仁發), State Public Prosecutor-General and convener of the special task force investigating Yin's murder, neither confirmed nor denied the news that Liu had been barred from leaving the country.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Lu's task force found there were suspicious monetary transactions in bank accounts belonging to Liu's relatives during the years of the Lafayette frigate deal, Chinese-language media reports said yesterday.
The task force also believes it was Liu who tipped off Shan Yi-cheng (
Shan returned to Taiwan in July and prosecutors are investigating allegations that he used bribery to win a contract for German-made minesweepers.
The report said that according to investigations, another arms broker, Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), left the country after Yin's murder and may be involved in the case.
Wang was the representative in Taiwan for the French Lafayette manufacturer Thomson CSF.
According to the reports, members of the task force suspect that transactions detected in bank accounts held by Liu's relatives may have been bribery money paid by Wang.
However, the report quoted members of the investigative task force as saying that the restriction placed on Liu's travel did not indicate Liu's involvement in the crimes, but was merely investigative procedure.
Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary-General to the President Eugene Chien (
"The Yin case must be solved completely. However, human rights must be respected. All men are equal before the law and the government will not take further action before evidence has been gathered," he said.
Lu refused to respond to specifics concerning the travel ban.
"[Information related to the] investigation shall not be made public. I cannot say yes or no," Chien said.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
TALKS CONTINUE: Although an agreement has not been reached with Washington, lowering the tariff from 32 percent to 20 percent is still progress, the vice premier said Taiwan would strive for a better US tariff rate in negotiations, with the goal being not just lowering the current 20-percent tariff rate, but also securing an exemption from tariff stacking, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said yesterday. Cheng made the remarks at a news conference at the Executive Yuan explaining the new US tariffs and the government’s plans for supporting affected industries. US President Donald Trump on July 31 announced a new tariff rate of 20 percent on Taiwan’s exports to the US starting on Thursday last week, and the Office of Trade Negotiations on Friday confirmed that it
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