Seven years after an international warrant was issued against former Liberian president Charles Taylor, investigators have yet to find any money in his name, though his hidden wealth is estimated at between US$280 million and US$3 billion, the New York Times (NYT) said.
This wealth, which Taylor denies having access to, is believed to have come from Liberia’s timber and diamond trade, its international merchant shipping registry, tax coffers and the government of Taiwan, the NYT said on Sunday.
From 2000 though 2003, when Taylor's official presidential salary was US$24,000, records show that more than US$24 million was moved into and out of his account at the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment in Monrovia. Investigators say the money came from foreign banks, with Citibank in New York acting as the clearinghouse and processing the transfers, the NYT wrote.
All but US$4 million of that US$20 million came from the government of Taiwan in eight separate payments, as Taipei was engaging in checkbook diplomacy to maintain diplomatic recognition amid fierce competition from Beijing.
Beijing first broke off relations with Liberia in 1989 after Monrovia recognized Taiwan. China re-established ties with Liberia on Aug. 10, 1993, and until October 2003, Liberia was one of the few countries to have official diplomatic ties with both Taipei and Beijing. After Taylor was ousted and forced into exile in late 2003, one of the first acts of the new Liberian government was to cut diplomatic ties with Taipei.
Taylor was indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague on June 4, 2003, on 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious violations of international humanitarian law. His trial began on Jan. 6, 2008. In court, Taylor said the funds earmarked for various projects sponsored by Taiwan covered military salaries, Balkan arms deals and “the airlift of wounded bombing victims,” the NYT wrote.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the money was intended for AIDS medicine, a children's center, as well as vocational training and charity contributions.
Michel Lu (呂慶龍), ministry spokesman during former president Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration and now Taiwan's envoy to France, said in an interview that Taipei “deeply regretted” the “humiliating” turn of events, adding that because of Taiwan's isolation, it had been under great pressure from Taylor, who “threatened to cut off relations,” the NYT reported.
“Frankly speaking, nobody can tell you where it [the money] went,” Lu said.
Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with countries that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday. There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected. Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the
Seven senior faculty members, including the principal, of a high school in Taichung were temporarily suspended from their jobs on Friday, pending an investigation by the Taichung Education Bureau into alleged bullying and abuse that led to the suicide of a student last month. The city’s education officials were too slow to suspend those involved, the student’s father told a news conference on Wednesday, at which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and members of the Humanistic Education Foundation were also present. The boy had been a good student and a high achiever during elementary and junior-high, and had
Taiwan would have established formal relations with Argentina long ago if not for China’s interference, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui told US-based Spanish-language online news outlet Infobae in an interview published on Tuesday. Beijing has left behind a string of unfulfilled promises in Latin America, including pledges to build the Grand Nicaragua Canal and airports, docks, ports and industrial zones in El Salvador, he said. Meanwhile, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and other countries enjoy pragmatic and improving relations with Taiwan based on cooperation on the economy, culture, technology and science, he said. While Taiwan is “happy to live and let live,”
TASK FORCE DISPATCHED: MOFA said it would assist state employees with repatriation or relocation to other ally nations in the region after Tegucigalpa severed ties The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Monday ordered Honduras to vacate its embassy in Taiwan within 30 days of Sunday after Tegucigalpa made a similar demand of Taiwan. Taipei on Monday announced that it had cut ties with Honduras after the Central American nation earlier said in a statement that it had established ties with Beijing and ended its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan. Following the announcements, Honduran Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Garcia spoke on Honduran television saying that Taiwan would be required to vacate its embassy in the Honduran capital. In Taipei, MOFA later told a news conference that “according