The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday it would probe reports that Singapore provided information about suspected money-laundering by members of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) family as early as last year.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) made the remarks after the Chinese-language China Times reported that Singapore contacted Taiwan about the matter in March last year.
Former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) allegedly transferred money to a Singapore bank account in her brother Wu Ching-mao’s (吳景茂) name last year after Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘), Chen’s son-in-law, was indicted for insider trading in a corruption scandal in 2006.
Wu Ching-mao reportedly then closed his account and transferred the money to a Swiss bank account under the name of Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚), Chen Shui-bian’s daughter-in-law.
Ou said the ministry had only received a request for judicial assistance from Switzerland last month.
Asked whether some officials may have withheld information about the case, Ou said “the ministry will be able to track it down if there were files.”
Vice Foreign Affairs Minister Javier Hou (侯清山) said the ministry would launch an investigation into the matter.
Meanwhile, a Taiwanese official stationed in Singapore yesterday said that the representative office had not received any information on the accounts of Chen or his family members and had not been contacted by the government of Singapore on the matter.
The official also said the representative office had not been contacted either when Taiwanese investigators went to Singapore to probe the Papua New Guinea scandal.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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