Taiwan Goal May Have Been Dissolved, but Suspicions Linger

Taiwan Goal May Have Been Dissolved, but Suspicions Linger

China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
February 26, 2008


A SUMMARY

Defense Minister Lee Tien-yu has resigned. The Executive Yuan has declared that no funds will enter Taiwan Goal. Taiwan Goal Chairman Wu Nai-jen has announced that he will convene a shareholders' meeting to discuss the dissolution of the company. It would appear that the controversy is over. But this mysterious company has left us with too many loose ends, too many doubts. The whole truth has yet to be revealed. The Taiwan Goal incident is not over. No one denies that given Mainland China’s obstruction and suppression, Taiwan has had a hard time buying weapons. In order to maintain the most basic requirements of national defense and national security, we must remain flexible. After all, arms procurements often involve astronomical sums. Even the tiniest rebates involve staggering numbers. Absent systematic oversight, absent internal and external control mechanisms, arms sales are a hotbed for corruption. The Yin Ching-feng case remains seared in our memory. To this day, that military procurement scandal remains an albatross around the Kuomintang's neck. The DPP needs to open its eyes. If the Taiwan Goal scandal is not followed-up and handled properly, it is likely to become an albatross around the DPP's neck.

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See full text of the editorial below

Defense Minister Lee Tien-yu has resigned. The Executive Yuan has declared that no funds will enter Taiwan Goal. Taiwan Goal Chairman Wu Nai-jen has announced that he will convene a shareholders' meeting to discuss the dissolution of the company. The controversy appears to be over. But this mysterious company has left us with too many loose ends, too many doubts. The whole truth has yet to be revealed. The Taiwan Goal incident is not over.

A number of doubts hang about Taiwan Goal, remaining to be clarified.

Whether or not government funds have been invested in Taiwan Goal, whether or not Taiwan Goal will really be soon disbanded, neither is the point. The point is whether or not the Ministry of National Defense (MND) signed contracts authorizing Taiwan Goal to negotiate arms deals before the scandal broke. Has Taiwan Goal already negotiated some arms deals? Was it close to finalizing these deals, as the media suggests? If it was, what next? Will the MND take over? Or will the original gang carry on? This is critical, but has yet to be clearly explained.

If Lee Tien-yu’s resignation and the dissolution of Taiwan Goal will only result in turning the whole case from being open to underground, and the same gang will carry on as before, then their machinations will be hidden from us in the future. Where the kickbacks went no one will know. The MND can only pay up afterwards. By the time any real investigation has begun, the culprits will have escaped overseas, like Wang Chuan-pu. By then, even assuming the Taiwan Goal case is brought to light, it will all be for naught.

Lee Tien-yu has hastily resigned. The official explanation is that he is assuming political responsibility for the improper handling of the Taiwan Goal case. But everyone knows this is not the real reason. The most widely held view is that: One. The Presidential Office "suggested" that Lee Tien-yu resign. Two. Lee Tien-yu knew his situation was not encouraging, so he bailed out early to avoid entanglement in any emerging scandal. The inside story may not emerge in the short term, but whatever it is, it won't be straightforward. If Lee Tien-yu was "urged" to step down, obviously he was "less than effective in supporting Taiwan Goal." He may even have been "less than willing to support Taiwan Goal."

If the latter, that would mean Lee Tien-yu was fully aware that vast interests were involved, and the case was highly controversial. If he didn't draw a clear line of demarcation between himself and the scandal he could easily get burned, and wind up as the fall guy. Within the military, Lee Tien-yu has long been regarded as Chen Shui-bian's man. If even Lee could not avoid being purged, becoming the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's shortest-serving Defense Minister, what sort of unspeakable acts were being committed behind the scenes?

The most intriguing aspect of the Taiwan Goal case, from beginning to end, is also the one least accounted for. Namely, why was everything under the direction of the DPP’s New Tide Faction's "Two Jens?" Chiou I-jen, from behind-the-scenes, and Wu Nai-jen, from center stage? In the past, neither of them has had the political experience or professional training in arms procurement. The Two Jens still carry weight within the DPP and the administration. The two belong to the same faction. How dare they brazenly set up a company and elbow their way into the game, secretly negotiating important multinational arms deals? Especially within the context of a caretaker government, and clearly with the intention of evading legislative oversight? It will be against common sense for people to believe that no selfish interests were involved. Lee Tien-yu has stepped down. His successor, Tsai Min-hsien (Michael Tsai), just happens to be a New Tide Faction member. Perhaps this is just a coincidence. But the impression it leaves the outside world is that obstacles were being removed to make way for "one of our own." To assert that the Taiwan Goal scandal is over, given the circumstances, strains anybody's credulity.

No one denies that given Mainland China's obstruction and suppression, Taiwan has had a hard time buying weapons. In order to maintain the most basic requirements of national defense and national security, we must remain flexible. After all, arms procurements often involve astronomical sums. Even the tiniest rebates involve staggering numbers. Absent systematic oversight, absent internal and external control mechanisms, arms sales are a hotbed for corruption. The Yin Ching-feng case remains seared in our memory. To this day, that military procurement scandal remains an albatross around the Kuomintang's neck. The DPP needs to open its eyes. If the Taiwan Goal scandal is not followed-up and handled properly, it is likely to become an albatross around the DPP's neck.

Therefore spare us any specious claims that Taiwan Goal was established to promote domestic arms production, or that the dissolution of Taiwan Goal will damage the nation's interests. Even a right thing, done at the wrong time, by the wrong people, in the wrong way, is a wrong thing. Besides, if Taiwan Goal is truly innocent, why is Frank Hsieh distancing himself from it?



(Courtesy of China Times)

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