The recent declassification of US State Department documents has shed new light on the progression of events that led to the exposure of Taiwan's program to develop nuclear technology. It's a story in which the figure of ROC Colonel Chang Hsien-yi (
Chang was born in Taichung in 1943. After graduating from the military-run Chungcheng Institute of Technology in 1967, Chang began his career at the Institute for Nuclear Energy Research, a division of the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (
He was serving as deputy director of the nuclear research facility when he fled Taiwan on Jan. 9, 1988, just three days before the death of President Chiang Ching-kuo (
According to a military investigation after the incident, CIA personnel at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) arranged for his escape, under the silent consent of Taiwan's security agencies.
Chang allegedly kept his wife Hung Mei-feng (洪美鳳) and children in the dark about his defection. Two days after his escape, a CIA agent -- carrying a letter from Chang -- met his wife and children in Tokyo and escorted them to the US.
Immediately after his arrival in the US, Chang went to a secret Congress debriefing, where he confirmed the breakthroughs Taiwan had made in developing nuclear weapons -- and Taiwan's attempt to hide its nuclear program from US surveillance.
Chang's revelations prompted the US government to take tough action -- to pressure the Taiwan government to destroy its nuclear weapons facilities.
Chiang Ching-kuo's death did not change US pressure, and the Taiwan military finally gave in.
On Jan. 15, the US demanded access to the Institute for Nuclear Energy. Three days later, a team of US experts arrived at the Ching-chuankang air force base in Tai-chung. After a short discussion with Yeh Chang-tung (
After taking some soil samples and making an analysis of the hardware installed there, the US team started dismantling a heavy water reactor.
Within a few hours, the NT$1.85 billion facility and 17 years of research were decommissioned. If the costs for personnel training and software are taken into account, the military lost about NT$3 billion.
Later, Yeh traveled to the US and reportedly reached a consensus with US officials over Chang's defection.
After his escape, the Ministry of National Defense issued an arrest warrant for Chang, but later the Chungshan Institute completed paperwork to "discharge" him from service.
Chou Jen-chang (
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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