A Taiwanese-German woman, long believed to be a key witness in the murder of navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (
Speaking at a press conference in Taipei yesterday to publicize her book, Surfacing: Mysteries about the Yin Ching-feng case, Tu Cheng Chun-chu (涂鄭春菊) said she hoped that her memoirs would help remove the label "key witness," which has been imposed upon her since the murder of Captain Yin.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"My book is entitled `Surfacing' mainly as a declaration of my determination to speak openly about what I know -- and don't know -- of the Yin case," Tu said at the press conference.
For the past seven years, Tu has been one of the key witnesses in the Yin case. Part of the reason is that Tu was the person Yin planned to visit before he went missing.
"On that day, Dec. 9, around 7:00am, Yin Chin-feng called and said that he would be over in 10 minutes ... however, he never showed up," Tu wrote in her book.
Others also wondered why Tu left Taiwan immediately after one of Yin's colleagues informed her of the death. Yin's body was found drifting off the coast of Suao in Ilan County later that day, apparently killed by a blow to the back of the head.
"Yin talked with me on the phone before he died. But until I was informed of his death, I had no idea what had happened and I wasn't involved. I was also curious about what had happened to Yin," Tu said.
Tu said the reason she left the country following Yin's murder was because the navy had instructed her to do so.
"The navy told me that if any accident befell Yin, I would never be able to return to Taiwan again. And I asked the naval procurement officer `what does that have to do with me?'" Tu wrote in her book. "But he refused to give me an explanation."
At the time, Tu was in Taiwan negotiating with the navy over spare parts for four German-made minesweepers. She worked as a broker on behalf of a German arms manufacturer. Yin was sent by the navy to talk with her, since he was then the director of the navy's procurement office.
Tu, however, denied that she was an arms dealer.
"I was just handling the legal affairs of the deal," Tu said.
When asked by one reporter if she knew more about how Yin died and more details related to the case, Tu said, "If I knew I would tell you."
"All I know are some details related to the navy's procurement scandals during that period," Tu said.
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