The Taiwan government has filed a lawsuit at the High Court to
retrieve 42 million Sing dollars (US 29.8 million) in a
multi-million dollar diplomatic scandal.
The lawsuit involves two men, government-appointed Mr Ching Chi
Ju and businessman Wu Shih Tsai.
The duo acted as intermediaries in Taiwan's discussions with Papua
New Guinea to establish full diplomatic ties in August
2006.
After an agreement was signed between both governments, the two men
were given 42 million Sing dollars to be used for technological aid
to Papua New Guinea.
The money was deposited into an OCBC Bank account in Singapore
under the names of Mr Ching and Mr Wu.
But the diplomatic discussions fell through in October 2006 and the
Taiwanese government wanted the money back.
Then in December, Mr Ching was supposed to meet a Taiwanese
government official in Singapore to return the money, but did not
do so.
Subsequently, both he and the money went missing.
Mr Wu, a Singaporean, was sentenced to two years and four months
jail last October after being convicted of forging a document in
2008.
He had tried to mislead officials into thinking that
the money was still in an OCBC Bank account in Singapore.
The Taiwan government has since retrieved 2.1 million Sing dollars
from Mr Wu.
Mr Ching will be testifying at the trial via a video conference
from the United States.
He claims that some 14 million Sing dollars was his
remuneration for being a secret emissary from 1995 to 2006 to
improve the relationship between Taiwan and the People's Republic
of China.
The remaining sum was used by Mr Wu to establish a diplomatic
relationship with Taiwan and Papua New Guinea and also for the two
men's role as intermediaries.
Taiwan's former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Huang Chih-Fang, who
assumed the position from 2006 to 2008, took the stand
today.
Mr Huang testified that an account under the two men was set up
here and that some 42 million Sing dollars were banked into that
account.
He also said he wasn't aware of any emissary role played by Mr
Ching.
Mr Huang will continue to take the stand tomorrow.
--938Live