A Christian service was held yesterday for navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓), who was killed 14 years ago in a murder associated with the Lafayette frigate procurement scandal, with his family hoping the nation will uncover the truth behind the murder.
"President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) promised to find out the truth behind the murder and the Lafayette scandal, and my family hopes President Chen will work hard on this matter during the remaining months of his tenure," Yin Ching-feng's widow, Li Mei-kuei (李美葵), said yesterday at the ceremony.
Following Yin's death in late 1993, Li and Yin's father, Yin Duo (尹鐸), traveled the country collecting information to try to solve the mystery of Yin's death, but to no avail.
Li said she stopped the probe seven years ago and now believes that God can help the family find out the truth and bring justice.
The Christian ceremony was held in a church in Taipei yesterday morning.
Yin's body was found floating along the coast near Suao (蘇澳) on Dec. 10, 1993, by fishermen and his body was buried in Kaohsiung County after the completion of an autopsy.
Yin's family had hoped to arrange a cremation and for his ashes to be kept in a Taipei cemetery, but the special investigation panel in charge of the case refused because the investigation into the case was still ongoing.
Yin's family yesterday were finally able to bring Yin's ashes in a urn up to Taipei and settle them in a columbarium.
Yin's murder, thought to be associated with the Lafayette frigate procurement scandal, remains unsolved after 14 years. Yin is widely believed to have been about to blow the whistle on colleagues who were taking kickbacks from the deal.
The government's original plan in 1988 was to purchase South Korean-made frigates, but then decided in 1990 to purchase the French-made Lafayette frigates instead.
Several naval officials were indicted for their involvement in the case, but prosecutors were still unable to discover who the mastermind behind the arms deal was and who else had received kickbacks.
Andrew Wang (汪傳浦) -- a key suspect in the kickback scandal -- fled the country following Yin's murder.
All of Wang and his family's bank accounts have since been frozen by the Swiss Federal Court.
Wang was indicted by prosectors in absentia on charges of murder, corruption, money laundering and fraud.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper