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.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer