Monday, May 05, 2008

"Papua? I thought he said Paypal!"

Taiwan's checkbook diplomacy was spotlighted this week with the revelation that the Taiwan government was giving out money in little brown bags from the back door to anyone who said they could buy a government.....

"I don't know if the money went to Papua New Guinea," Huang added.

Chiou said the affair began when an unidentified friend introduced him to Ching as the man who could deliver Papua New Guinea to the Taiwanese diplomatic column. He said that, after he introduced Ching to Huang, they decided to go ahead with efforts to try to persuade the Pacific nation to abandon Beijing.

Citing papers that the Taiwanese government filed last month in a Singapore court, Lianhe Zaobao reported that Taipei authorized Ching and Wu to act as intermediaries with the Papua New Guinea authorities in September 2006, and that it wired $29.8 million into an account they controlled.

Why $30 million? I'd have been willing to do it for $10 million....and just think, if he had handed back $25 million, he probably could have kept $5 million and said he had spread a few bribes around but nothing had come of it. Then nobody would be chasing him. And $30 million is a ridiculous sum -- you can buy a Pacific Island government for a third of that figure, I've heard.

Couple of observations. First, the KMT had been coming under scrutiny for the split in its ranks over the appointment of a TSU legislator as head of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC). Suddenly all that public discussion of the party's dirty laundry has been blotted out by a new scandal about the DPP.

My, that's convenient timing. Especially since this little time bomb has been sitting around since September of 2006 -- through two cycles of legislative budget reviews, and nobody asked a single question?

Second, the stupidity of wiring $30 million to a private account with zero oversight or controls is replicated every day all over Taiwan, and elsewhere in the world, in perfectly ordinary scams where greed causes the mark to wire money to some account somewhere, where it disappears faster than you can say "Nigerian Scam." This is just an ordinary scam blown up to galactic scale, with the marks out there saying lamely "but I trusted him!"

As always, what's interesting is what isn't happening -- no oversight by the KMT-dominated legislature, no accountability in the DPP-led executive, and nobody in any high office there pointing out what an incredibly stupid idea it must have been. The Taipei Times, which had a long piece devoted to it today, observed:

In August 2006, the 56-year-old Wu, a Singaporean, and his partner, Ching, were commissioned by the ministry and then-National Security Council (NSC) secretary-general Chiou to act as intermediaries in attempts to help Taiwan forge diplomatic relations with Papua New Guinea.

Officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Council knew. Also in the know: the Accounting Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And I find it hard to believe that nobody in Accounting told their pal in the legislative office: "hey, ya know we just wired a bushel of green to some account in Singapore for some thing with PNG." The Taipei Times went on to report:

Meanwhile, ministry spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) said the ministry had agreed to set up the joint account in Ching and Wu;s name because the Papuan government had requested that the funds be wired via the joint account as a display of Taiwan’s “sincerity.”

Asked if it was legal for the ministry to wire money to such an account, Yang Te-chuan (楊德川), comptroller of the ministry’s accounting department, said his office could not reject or inquire about the ministry’s decision to remit money as long as the decision was approved by the minister.

Yeh said the ministry did not know how much money was left in the account because Wu’s answers to the ministry’s inquiries were inconsistent.

She said Wu had provided bank statements at the end of last July showing that all the funds remained in the account.

He made the same claim to the ministry earlier this year, Yeh said.

However, Wu gave the ministry an emergency notice in the middle of March, saying that there was only US$2,000 left in the account and admitting that he had surrendered his rights to the account to Ching in February last year, Yeh said.

I love the way Accounting said anything is legal if the Minister says it is legal! Don't look in here! Nobody here but us accountants....

And speaking of foreign relations success, how about those Taiwanese businessmen spying in China? The LA Times had a piece by Mark Magnier on how they've allegedly been hung out to dry by the Taiwan government.

Song learned that he had been one of 36 Taiwanese businessman "spies" arrested about the same time and sentenced to as long as 15 years in prison. The roundup apparently was aimed at humiliating Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, who in late 2003 had angered Beijing by introducing a referendum on whether China should remove its then-496 missiles aimed at Taiwan. The two sides split in 1949 during a civil war.

Once back in Taipei, Song met with an agent from the Military Intelligence Bureau, who advised him to keep quiet. The agent seemed sympathetic until Song brought up the issue of compensation, at which point the conversation ended.

Could've used that $30 million....

UPDATE: Mick rips me in the comments below:
You fail to mention that the DPP has less than a month left, is it not quite probable in the likelihood of a change of administration such an oversight of monies would eventually come out and that this was the precursor of events. Firstly, trying legally to require the money, then the Singapore media reporting on it, and finally the issue being discussed here.
Sorry man. No doubt I'm just paranoid. But I'm always curious why things come out at particular times, as opposed to others.

UPDATE II: Ma was briefed April 10, and the order to get the money back was given by Chen Shui-bian, according to James Huang in this CNA report.


Hat tip to my man Mark Forman for the title of the piece.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was waiting for your take on this. I will state my opinion as kindly as I can, with as much reservation. I understand you have prefer the green side, yet, when your analysis defies common sense, the damage you do for your own cause is 10x more than any logic the most intelligent opposing view might hold.

You fail to mention that the DPP has less than a month left, is it not quite probable in the likelihood of a change of administration such an oversight of monies would eventually come out and that this was the precursor of events. Firstly, trying legally to require the money, then the Singapore media reporting on it, and finally the issue being discussed here.

You fail to mention, if the DPP had won the election these series of events could have been kept quiet, and with time forgotten. In fact your first point is to criticize the KMT for supposedly using this as a smoke screen for their own internal squabbles.

Thanks for the thoughts

Mick

Anonymous said...

As always, what's interesting is what isn't happening -- no oversight by the KMT-dominated legislature, no accountability in the DPP-led executive, and nobody in any high office there pointing out what an incredibly stupid idea it must have been.

That's because Taiwan's government is based on five branches. Legislature in Taiwan unlike the US houses has absolutely no subpoena power. Also, the head of 行政院 said he does not know such thing until the news come out.

Btw, the timing is actually in DPP's favor just imagine the news break before the election...Ma is actually fighting a tough fight within KMT right now trying to eliminate or limit the old conservative powers i.e. Lien. What has DPP been doing lately considering they are the losers?

Michael Turton said...

In fact your first point is to criticize the KMT for supposedly using this as a smoke screen for their own internal squabbles.

I'm very sorry. I'll try not to view events from possibility internal political ramifications in the future. I'll just take everything on its face from now on.

The fact is that the scandal has been known on the island to outsiders since at least March, since as today's (5/6) paper avers, the list of names of people who might have been bribed was handed over to prosecutors at about that time.

No doubt I'm wrong. But it pays to be curious about the timing of things, since it is a really common pattern for the KMT to make trouble for the DPP when they themselves are in trouble. Why did it come out now?

Also, the head of 行政院 said he does not know such thing until the news come out.

Yes. And? Obviously many people knew about this eff-up -- NSC, Accounting, MOFA, and others. But apparently all the people whose oversight this ran past thought it was a really good idea.

Michael

Michael Turton said...

Btw, the timing is actually in DPP's favor just imagine the news break before the election...

Yes, there's quite a bit that was known about Ma too that didn't come out during the election. There's more to all this "it didn't come out..." stuff than meets the eye. Apparently things get held in reserve. Or it may not have come out because there was no outside evidence of its existence. After all, it was known to prosecutors back in March, and must have been known to others prior to then. But at that point the Ministry was in a position to deny it.

It's hard to say why things that look like slam-dunks never make their way into public discourse.

Ma is actually fighting a tough fight within KMT right now trying to eliminate or limit the old conservative powers i.e. Lien.

Yes, so everyone has noted.

Michael

Michael Turton said...

BTW the MOFA budget is less than US$1 billion as I recall. $30 million was a sizeable chunk. And no oversight of it at all....

Michael Turton said...

In fact the China Post said today that MOFA had initiated litigation before the election of March 22. So many many people must have known. So why didn't it come out then?

Michael

Anonymous said...

In fact the China Post said today that MOFA had initiated litigation before the election of March 22. So many many people must have known. So why didn't it come out then?

Care for a link?

How fast does Singapore release information on its court proceeding?

Michael Turton said...

I don't know. I'm still trying to figure out the exact date MODA asked for the injunction. I searched the high court site but couldn't find it. Maybe I got the wrong court.

Michael

Michael Turton said...

er..MOFA asked for the injunction

Anonymous said...

Damn, Mark, good title!

:O

Anonymous said...

Thanks Michael, my appologies for seemingly ripping in. On the one hand, I do think you are right to not take facts at face value, to use your brain , ask questions on issues such as timing.

The story was interesting to me on many levels, Chiou I-jen being asked to leave the DPP (this is an important guy, weilding a fair bit of power), but unless I am mistaken is still holding on to his position is interesting, I would have like to hear your take on that.

You yourself noted this occurred back in 2006, which was about the same time all those red shirts were marching about. If we consider timing, THAT would have been a particulary unfortunate timing for the news to come out.

There is this Singaporean guy and Vice Minister of Defense Ko Cheng-heng saying they are in fear for their lives invoking memories of the lafayette scandal. Thats intersting.

Many thanks once again

Mick

Michael Turton said...

I think your comments were fair, Mick, and you were right to point out my leaping to conclusions. That's why I put them up there.

I'm still trying to figure out a bunch of things.

Michael

Anonymous said...

Sad to see Chiou I-jen go out in disgrace for making a bad judgment in character.

Anyway, this whole slimy mess once again demonstrates the idiotic Taiwan policy of allowing people to hold dual citizenship. Not only is it unethical, it allows these economic criminals to escape to freedom in the USA (and China ~).

I have seen this happen over and over and over again. Why does Taiwan tolerate this? (well, to answer my own question, they need the overseas ROC KMT vote).

Tommy said...

"And $30 million is a ridiculous sum -- you can buy a Pacific Island government for a third of that figure, I've heard."

Shopping around, Michael? ;)

Anonymous said...

BTW: Just a tidbit, I read this on a financial website a few days ago re PNG:

IOC Interoil - A Whiff of Gas

...this stock has moved up nicely the last two days. Boone Pickens owns a big chunk of this company and I thought maybe his appearance on national television yesterday moved the stock up some. However, the company is currently drilling into the top of its target structure on a well in offshore Papua New Guinea and I think that some word may have leaked out. Last time they announced the results of a well, the stock doubled in price. Anyway, it's an interesting oil/gas play.

(and a response..) Yeah, their finances are not great but they've attracted a lot of big name investors and have a decent shot at a large gas play in New Guinea. They went up big today when they announced a gas flare on the current well.

HeiShouDang 黑手黨 said...

Don't forget also that the Lafayette case has been in court this week too. (Lei Chen and her daddy were there on Monday) But we have heard diddly-squat about that.
How convenient.