Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

MND censured over munitions sales

Taipei Times

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) was reprimanded by the Control Yuan yesterday amid an investigation into whether expired munitions were illegally sold to militant groups in the Middle East and Africa.

Speculation about such sales emerged in January after a report by the Chinese-language Next Magazine that there was evidence more than 1,800 tonnes of ammunition, which had supposedly been destroyed, was re-sold by a government contractor to Romanian officials last year.

Mayor Hau and his pals make little sense

Jerome Keating

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) fits this carpetbagger profile. He has had no strong political background to justify his being mayor; however, his father, Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村), came to Taiwan as a general under Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).

US committed to Taiwan, US official says

Taipei Times

US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg told a major conference on US-China relations that Washington retains a “very strong commitment” to Taiwan.

While acknowledging that US ties with Beijing were improving, he said: “There is a very strong commitment and appreciation for the tremendous achievements that the people of Taiwan have accomplished both in the economic and especially in the political sphere.”

Wasting Away Money in Non-sequiturville: Hau Lung-bin and the Carpetbaggers

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

A characteristic of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) carpetbaggers is their sense of privilege and entitlement and the belief that after gaining high positions via loyalty, they can in turn use such positions to reward carpetbagger friends. Hau Lung-bin, the current Mayor of Taipei fits this carpetbagger profile. He has had no strong political background to justify his being mayor; however his father, Hau Pei-tsun came to Taiwan as a general under Chiang Kai-shek. Hau Pei-tsun later served as Premier, ran as a Vice Presidential Candidate and was a key suspect in the Lafayette Frigate Scandal involving hundreds of millions of dollars of bribes, inflated prices and most likely murder. That supposedly made Hau Lung-bin, whose education was supported by the KMT, a good mayoral candidate.

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