Government and affiliated agencies are on high alert for government contractors that use Chinese-made components, or companies previously blacklisted seeking to obtain government contracts by establishing headquarters in other countries.
Local media on Thursday reported that K-Best (全波科技), after obtaining a government contract in March 2023 for NT$26.30 million (US$803,176), allegedly obtained components from Chinese companies, assembled the product and delivered it to Ministry of National Defense-affiliated Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology.
The report said the equipment had allegedly been incorporated into the army’s 21st Artillery Command, the 43rd Artillery Command and the Jioupengwan Base and was targeted for investigation by the ministry’s Military Security Division before the institute ordered the recall of the equipment.
Photo: Taipei Times
The institute on Friday said it uncovered a discrepancy between the components in the equipment delivered and the specifications in the contract during internal tests and had fined the subcontractor, per the contract.
All Chinese-made components have been removed and replaced with non-Chinese-made components, it said.
K-Best has been blacklisted and the institute has forwarded information to the judiciary for investigation, it said, adding that the company could face criminal charges.
Separately, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) on Friday confirmed that the air force has put a purchase agreement on hold, because the company in question is allegedly a front for a company flagged by the ministry for contract violation.
Wang made the remarks after local media reported that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office Defense Mission to the US had awarded a bid worth NT$12 million to Amroc International Corp (竣達企業).
The report said the company was registered to a private residence in Los Angeles, and shared a name with another that had contravened a procurement contract for the air force’s Chihhang Air Base and is blocked from obtaining military procurement contracts until May 27.
Wang said he had reached out to the air force and received confirmation that they were aware and had put the bid on hold until the company was further vetted.
Wang urged the military to pay due attention and ensure that procurement contracts are up to standards and that loopholes are not exploited.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Restarting the No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant would take up to 18 months, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said today. Kuo was answering questions during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, where legislators are considering amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條) amid concerns about the consequences of the Pingtung County reactor’s decommissioning scheduled for May 17. Its decommissioning is to mark the end of Taiwan’s nuclear power production. However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) that would extend the life of existing
RSS