“There will be no limit” to the investigation of alleged duty-free cigarette smuggling that has implicated National Security Bureau (NSB) officials, bureau Director-General Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said yesterday.
Chiu made the remark at a news conference yesterday afternoon.
Chiu was named by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as the new head of the agency after his predecessor, Peng Sheng-chu (彭勝竹), resigned last month over the scandal.
Photo: Sam Yeh / AFP
Chiu said that he would definitely take firm action regarding the case.
Disciplinary measures would be taken against any who are found to be involved or those found to have had knowledge of the matter, but did not take steps to stop it, he said.
There is no time frame to conclude the probe, he said, calling on the public to give the agency time and space to investigate.
He would brief the public regarding its findings when the time is right, he said.
On July 22, 9,800 cartons of cigarettes worth NT$6 million (US$191,229) were allegedly brought into Taiwan under the cover of Tsai’s return from a trip to Taiwan’s four diplomatic allies in the Caribbean. NSB security agents allegedly ordered the cigarettes from China Airlines’ (CAL) online duty-free store on July 8, three days before Tsai embarked on the trip, and they were put into storage at an airport warehouse owned by China Pacific Catering Services Ltd.
Shortly before the flight landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the cigarettes were removed and loaded into five government vehicles, which later attempted to leave the airport as part of Tsai’s motorcade.
Acting on a tip-off, customs officers intercepted the vehicles in the airport’s rapid clearance lane at 1:25pm. Two NSB agents were taken into custody the following day.
Prosecutors have since expanded the scope of the investigation, saying that others might have preordered duty-free goods in amounts exceeding legal limits during Tsai’s trip.
They have questioned more than 10 CAL employees in charge of offering preorder services for duty-free products.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
China is attempting to subsume Taiwanese culture under Chinese culture by promulgating legislation on preserving documents on ties between the Minnan region and Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday. China on Tuesday enforced the Fujian Province Minnan and Taiwan Document Protection Act to counter Taiwanese cultural independence with historical evidence that would root out misleading claims, Chinese-language media outlet Straits Today reported yesterday. The act is “China’s first ad hoc local regulations in the cultural field that involve Taiwan and is a concrete step toward implementing the integrated development demonstration zone,” Fujian Provincial Archives deputy director Ma Jun-fan (馬俊凡) said. The documents
RSS