Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chao Tian-lin (趙天麟) yesterday said he was willing to cooperate with any national security investigation into his affair with a Chinese woman, but added that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) should also be investigated for allegedly leaking national security secrets, and she should also cooperate.
Taking questions from reporters at the legislature in Taipei yesterday, Chao denied he had leaked national secrets, while reiterating his decision to end his re-election bid, which he announced on Tuesday night, following media reports that he had an extramarital affair with a Chinese woman surnamed Zhang (張), and photos of the two kissing became public.
“I have apologized and admitted to wrongdoing in my personal life, but without any evidence, KMT lawmakers accused me — by exaggerating the matter to the highest level — of betraying the nation,” Chao said. “I shall cooperate with any judicial investigation into national security leaks, and I urge Ma to do the same.”
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Ma and other KMT lawmakers alleged that Chao passed classified materials from the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee to China.
Separately, DPP caucus secretary-general Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) yesterday said that Ma had “betrayed the nation, seriously damaging national security,” and demanded that she not seek re-election.
Chuang said that Ma had interfered with the indigenous defense submarine project, by trying to prevent it from progressing by cutting its budget.
Ma had admitted that she had handed over classified materials related to the project to the South Korean representative office in Taiwan, which Chuang said resulted in the arrest and incarceration of several technicians working for South Korean contractor SI Innotec.
“During legislative sessions, Ma did not focus on scrutinizing the submarine construction or other military projects. Instead, she piled insults on military officials and defense experts, along with many staff members and technicians working to complete the first indigenous submarine,” DPP Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) said.
Lin also said that videos of Ma speaking at the legislature are being used by China as propaganda to attack Taiwan’s government and military.
“Ma passed on classified project materials to South Korean officials to derail our submarines, which are to protect Taiwanese from a military invasion. Is this not treason?” Lin said. “During a classified legislative committee meeting to review the submarine blueprint and budget, Ma was talking on the phone. Is this not leaking national secrets? When someone does these things, they should be stripped of their rights and authority as a legislator right away.”
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