Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday called for an investigation into the alleged involvement of former legislative assistant Chen Wei-jen (陳惟仁) in the sending of suspicious packages from China to several countries.
“Reliable sources” in Japan’s security sector have said that the post office account connected to the delivery of the mysterious packages is allegedly linked to Chen, DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Aug. 13 indicted Chen and two other former legislative assistants for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) for allegedly collecting classified materials and meeting minutes from the Legislative Yuan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mainland Affairs Council, and passing on lists of government personnel and reporters to Chinese intelligence officials.
Photo: CNA
Chen is free on NT$100,000 bail, but he is barred from leaving the country.
People around the world have been receiving mysterious packages containing used masks, seeds and soil for many years, but some of the more recent packages have been sent from Taiwan.
Investigations by national security agencies have concluded that packages originating from Taiwan are part of Chinese efforts to drive a wedge between Taiwan and the international community, Wang said.
That packages addressed to Chen are still being processed as normal mail demonstrate carelessness, he said.
Citing Customs Administration data, DPP Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵), said 198 “mystery” packages passed through Taiwan from January to last month, most of which were processed by the agency and the Council of Agriculture, but national security agencies should also be involved.
If a connection between Chen and “Huang Guanlong” (黃冠龍), an alias reportedly used by a Chinese official who is Chen’s alleged handler, can be established, it should be considered new evidence in the espionage case and Chen’s bail should be rescinded, DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said.
Chao urged an in-depth investigation be launched, as such a collaboration could see the Chinese launch a terrorist-like attack on another country, but with Taiwan bearing the brunt of the fallout.
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said it is looking into the transmission of the packages.
Additional reporting by CNA
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