Taiwan Government News, Former President Lee Teng-hui was questioned on Monday as a witness in the investigation of a kickback scandal involving the government's 1991 procurement of six French Lafayette class frigates, Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Su Chin-chiang confirmed on Tuesday.
Lee refuted statements made by another high profile witness earlier regarding the former president's role in the decision buy the warships from France instead of from South Korea, Su said.
Lee was willing to answer questions from a special investigation panel convened by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office because he is “keen” on seeing the case “cleared up as soon as possible,” Su said at a news briefing in Taipei.
“Lee has been heavy-hearted that the frigate procurement could have evolved into such a serious case,” Su revealed.
Lee was very cooperative and answered every question put to him by the investigators, an anonymous source from the prosecutors' office said, adding that prosecuting attorneys and Lee had reached an agreement last Friday regarding Monday's questioning session.
The session, which began at 9 a.m. Monday, lasted just two hours as members of the special prosecutorial panel met Lee in an office at the Danshui-based Taiwan Research Institute, where Lee has served as honorary president since 1994.
In answering the questions, Lee claimed that he was unaware of a proposed change of plan to buying French Lafayette frigates instead of Ulsan warships manufactured by South Korea, right up until the chief of general staff at the time, Hau Pei-tsun, concluded the deal, apparently on his own, with France on October 5, 1989, the source said.
Lee denied Hau's statement that only the president, in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the arms forces, could have had the final say in any arms procurement deal including the Lafayette case, the anonymous source said.
Hau made the statement when the investigation panel subpoenaed him last week. He said he advised the Taiwan Navy to suspend talks with South Korea over the purchase of Ulsan warships. Hau said that he gave the instructions in order to allow the Navy more time and more choices in the decision to buy new warships.
Hau stated that he was not involved in the final decision to buy from the French, saying that only the commander-in-chief of the ROC armed forces would have had the power to decide on the change of plan.
Former President Lee, however, reportedly told the investigators that the chief of the general staff always passed arms procurement decisions to him for signature. The former president said he usually did not oppose or veto any arms procurement plans because he “chose to respect” the top military leader's “professional opinion.”
“Lee said he merely noted his awareness of the change in the Lafayette procurement plan, but did not give any directives on the matter,” Su said.
The special investigation panel has examined a large number of Swiss court files believed to be linked to the Lafayette case.
According to the panel's estimate, the Lafayette kickbacks amounted to US$486 million, of which US$120 million was used to bribe Taiwan military or administrative officials.
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