The army general headquarters yesterday said it regretted a search by military prosecutors at a Nantou-based tank and armored vehicle base for new clues in an already-closed case.
"The case concerned administrative errors made by staff offi-cers at the Nantou base while handling the purchase of bulletproof glass between 1996 and 1998. All the officers involved, around 20 in total, have already been disciplined," said Major Li Hsiao-kuang (李曉光), a senior officer at the army general headquarters.
"The case was closed last November. Both the Control Yuan and the military's auditing authority had probed the case and found no evidence that corrupt practices took place," Li said.
"We do not understand why military prosecutors now want to re-investigate the case. As far as we know, the re-investigation was prompted by a letter of complaint sent by a former base employee," he said.
Li declined to comment on whether the ex-worker might have some kind of personal feud with his former superiors or whether he might have held a grudge against the base's leadership after being forced to quit his job because of the cross-service Chingshih personnel streamlining project.
The tank and armored vehicle base, located in Chichi township, is also facing a separate crisis.
It has been accused of unfair practices by foreign arms companies bidding to provide the army with its next generation of eight-wheeled armored personnel carriers.
An army official, who claims in-depth knowledge of the matter, said the army now favors an Irish company because it has promised to help Taiwan set up its own production line and will also agree to transfer the relevant technology.
"The terms offered by [the Irish firm] are much more attractive than the other two companies. Now we have been unfairly accused of rigging the bid. Do we not have the right to choose what we think is the best?" the official said.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
‘UNITED FRONT’: Some Taiwanese industry leaders had not initially planned to attend, but later agreed to do so after Beijing threatened them, a source said China hopes to rebuild its supply chain by wooing Taiwanese businesses at this year’s Cross-Strait CEO Summit (CSCS) to be held today in the Chinese city of Xiamen, a source said yesterday. This year’s summit would focus on “building a cross-strait industrial chain in the new era and promoting cross-strait economic integration and development,” promotional materials for the event said. The aim is to encourage Taiwanese businesspeople who have exited the Chinese market to return and invest there as a means of countering various technology export controls that China has been encountering, the source said. Former premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) and