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HAU MASTERMINDED LAFAYETTE PURCHASE WHILE LEE KNEW NOTHING: DPP

ROC Central News Agency

2005-11-29 16:07:22

    Taipei, Nov. 29 (CNA) The legislative caucus of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) claimed Tuesday that former Premier Hau Pei-tsun masterminded the purchase of Lafayette-class frigates from France in the late 1980s and early 1990s while former President Lee Teng-hui was kept in the dark throughout the decision-making process.

    The caucus showed a telegram sent by Hau in his capacity as military chief of the general staff from Paris on May 8, 1989 to prove its point. The message to the ROC Navy headquarters effectively vetoed Lee's decision in May, 1988 to buy South Korea's Ulsan-class frigates, said William C.T. Lai, secretary-general of the DPP caucus.

    In another message to then-President Lee, dated May 9, 1989, Hau did not mention that he had put off the negotiations over purchasing the South Korean frigates, according to Lai. Hau also kept Lee in the dark about his sending a team of navy officers to Saudi Arabia and France to take a closer look at the Lafayette frigates in September that year.

    The next month, Hau approved the deal to purchase the Lafayette frigates from France; however, France announced in January, 1990 that it was suspending exports of all warships. At that time, South Korea offered to quote a new price for its Ulsan-class frigates to Taipei, but the navy headquarters did not think it necessary, Lai said.

    He pointed out that during a military meeting in August, 1991, Lee did not know that the Ulsan-class frigate deal was already off and had been replaced by the Lafayette deal. "Lee even asked the navy to act cautiously on the Ulsan deal," Lai said.

    DPP Legislator Kao Chih-peng said the Ulsan deal was approved after a six-year assessment, "But why did it take only six months to switch to the Lafayette frigates?"

    Kao suspects that Hau was delighted by the fatter kickback for buying Lafayette-class ships while he was still in Paris, which explains why he had to send a message back home then and there to cancel the Ulsan deal.

    DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang said the Lafayette frigate kickback scandal is a huge corruption case that has claimed eight lives, seven of whom were foreigners. "Rather than reflecting on itself, the chairman of the KMT, Ma Ying-jeou, has instead made it plain that he hopes the prosecution's investigation into this case can be halted. The KMT's attempts to shift responsibility over the scandal underscore the fact that it was a corrupt party and that nothing has changed up to the present," said Lee Yi-yang.

    The DPP caucus' allegations contradicted People First Party Legislator Lin Yu-fang, who claimed on Sunday that Lee Teng-hui's secret envoys had sent part of the Lafayette kickback money into senior Chinese officials' bank accounts.

(By S.C. Chang)

ENDITEM/mw