National Security Bureau (NSB) director General Ting Yu-chou (丁渝洲) apologized yesterday for a string of recent incidents involving senior bureau staff that may have jeopardized national security.
"Not only the NSB but also the whole intelligence community has been affected by the incidents," Ting said. "I am deeply sorry for what has happened."
Ting made the remarks at yesterday's session of the Legislative Yuan's Organic Laws Committee in response to inquiries from legislators over recent high-profile incidents involving two high-ranking NSB officials.
Also attending the session were other leaders of the country's national security system, including the National Security Council secretary-general, Chuang Ming-yao (
The two incidents include the unauthorized trip to China in June by the former NSB personnel department chief, Major General Pan Hsi-hsien (潘希賢) and the alleged misappropriation of public funds by ex-NSB chief accountant, Colonel Liu Kuan-chun (劉冠軍).
The NSB believes that Pan is still being held in custody by Chinese security authorities, though intelligence information obtained by the Taipei Times indicates Pan has left China for the US and shows no sign of intending to return to Taiwan.
Liu, who postponed his retirement because of the misappropriation allegations, has recently gone missing. There is speculation that Liu fled the country for New Zealand.
Ting denied the speculation, saying that "Liu is still in Taiwan, because his passports are still being kept by the NSB. We don't know where he is. We will try to locate him.
"As to the allegations of misappropriation of funds, we have checked all our records and found none of our funds were missing."
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