Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday urged prosecutors to investigate allegations that some lawmakers have intervened in the indigenous submarine program and leaked national defense secrets to China.
The lawmakers issued the call after Indigenous Defense Submarine program head Huang Shu-kuang (黃曙光) on Thursday told the media that there were “certain legislators” allegedly making it difficult for the program to purchase critical equipment, which was previously listed in the “red zone,” and a contractor who had failed to obtain the bid forwarded the information they had to the Chinese military.
Huang made the remarks on the sidelines of the launch ceremony for Taiwan’s first domestically made submarine, named Hai Kun (海鯤), or “Narwhal.” The Ministry of National Defense has divided required components into three categories, with “red” for imported technologies that the nation cannot research and develop.
Photo courtesy of National Sun Yat-sen University
DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said that breaching national defense secrets contravenes the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), and politically, legislators are elected officials that have not only the trust of Taiwanese, but also that of international allies who have helped with the indigenous submarine program.
Cheng urged prosecutors to look into his accusations, adding that a lack of an investigation would be a dereliction of duty by the Ministry of Justice.
DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that certain bidding companies had backed out and it was discovered that they had been under Chinese pressure.
DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said that some legislators attempted to freeze large amounts of the program’s funding and made handwritten copies of the contract during the review process, adding that it was no surprise Huang would make such accusations.
Retired navy captain Kuo Hsi (郭璽) on Thursday said that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) was the legislator in question.
Ma yesterday urged Huang to name the legislator he accused of sabotaging the project.
Ma yesterday said Kuo was acting as Huang’s “hitman,” while urging Huang to name the legislator he accused of sabotaging the project.
She said that Huang is aiming to rush the submarine program’s budget through the legislature during President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) final term in office.
Ma said Huang is attempting to achieve this goal by making allegations against legislators and hinting that if they do not fall in line, they would be called “traitors” or people “chasing after petty profit margins.”
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-yu
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