Taiwan gets suckered for $30 million

Calling all scamsters! Any of you out there trolling for suckers should try calling on James Huang, foreign minister of Taiwan.

As you may have read, Taiwan has just lost $29.8 million it wired to two foreigners. One key person has vanished. And the taxpayer money is gone.

It’s the latest round of “dollar diplomacy.” According to news reports like this and this and this, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry dipped into its slush fund for “confidential” expenses to try to buy off diplomatic recognition from Papua New Guinea.

Taiwan now has 23 nations that recognize it, and it is constantly tussling with China to snatch new allies. Persuasive techniques involve satchels of cash and secret wire transfers.

The basic story is the following: Taiwan entrusted the $29.8 million to two men who said they could help induce Papua New Guinea to ditch China and establish diplomatic recognition of Taiwan. The two men had a joint bank account in Singapore.

One of the men is a U.S. passport holder, Ching Chi-ju, and the other is a Singaporean national, Wu Shih-tsai. Ching has disappeared. Once Foreign Ministry officials realized they’d been snookered, they pestered Ching’s wife in Los Angeles to get the money back. But she said she didn’t know where hubby was. Wu showed up at a news conference in Taiwan saying he’s innocent.

Foreign Minister Huang, shown here at his mea culpa press conference Friday in Taipei, said Taiwan initially tried to keep the fiasco quiet. But then when it was forced to go to court in Singapore to seek the freezing of the two men’s bank accounts, the news exploded in the Singaporean press.

The killer is this: Taiwan continues to maintain it doesn’t engage in dollar diplomacy. It says the money was for development projects in Papua New Guinea.

But since when does development money get wired into the personal accounts of two foreigners in Singapore? This money was meant to line someone’s pockets in Papua New Guinea. We’ve just had a weekend visitor from Central America who recounted from fairly direct information how one Central American president got $5 million in cash from Taipei. That kind of cash can buy loyalty – at least the temporary variety – from leaders of small countries.

The one saving grace: At least we can learn about it in Taiwan, where the press is free. When China does it, we’d probably never know. 

Comments

[A B]

When will Taipei and Beijing sit up, look at each other in the eye, and realize that they are both Chinese, and they are both losing in this diplomatic "recognition" game?

Taiwan is suppose to be a democracy, but why is there not a public revolt against how the taxpayer's money is spent on this kind of shenanigans.

[paolang]

Tim, you just cannot help criticizing China, can you?

As you told us in your article, the scandal was exposed by Singaporean media. Therefore you closing remark ("The one saving grace: At least we can learn about it in Taiwan, where the press is free. When China does it, we’d probably never know") comes from nowhere.

[Dave]

Nice cheap shot, Tim. Five will get you ten that if China does something like this, someone will find out and blow the whistle. Not that China needs to resort to under the table bribes to get diplomatic recognition. They just do it in the open.

[Reeb]

This case is a perfect example of why the Taiwan Government should not allow Taiwanese to hold dual citizenships. (Twn and USA)

First of all, it's unethical, second of all, so many Taiwanese financial criminals escape the law here by fleeing to the USA.

I have seen this happen over and over and over again in the 20 years I've lived in Taiwan. It is a disgrace.

Taiwan should get off its ass and make it a law that Taiwanese can not have two passports. (of course they won't because they need the dual citizenship/foreign KMT votes to win elections).

[shenqh]

During Regan administration, USA secretely used the money from weapon sale to Iran and transferred the money to fund the rebels in Nicaragua. It is a very common practice.

[chanps]

Save the "one saving grace" for all Western Democracies esp US..how much money was used and is still being used to finance so-called freedom fighters?terrorist around the world by CIA..the secret renditions etc.etc..so eventually we will learn about it..so what??? make you feel any better. just hypocrites...

[Zane Thomas]

Tim,

WTF?

Do you feel it's necessary to bash China no matter what the topic of the post purports to be?

I beginning to lose interest in your column. Another few incidents such as the latest and I'm going to give up on you.

[RY]

For similar reasons that the CIA and the State Dept does not disclose their budget. Not that US needs to buy international diplomatic recognition, but just about eveything else they can't get threat of military action.

[Officer Bob Brady]

Authorization and appropriations for the Department of State are public.

[DrSeuss]

"At least we can learn about it in Taiwan, where the press is free. When China does it, we’d probably never know."

Hmm Tim, I thought the Singaporean media broke the story, not the Taiwanese media. And the Taiwanese government had wanted to keep it hushhush.

[shenqh]

By the trend of topics from Tim. His next one should be related to something like "deadly virus in China, will it scare away foreigners to go to the coming Olymipic games?"

[Eddie]

I am starting to put Tim in the league of Jack Cafferty in his commentaries. It doesnt matter what topic he posts, there's always some kind of China bashing and distorted information. sigh...

[jeff]

Spot on an interesting interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIaVB-k7QlY

[yinbin]

This saves grace too:
White Americans butchered native Indians to the point of driving the latter to distinction. America together with its poodle nations launched an illegal war against a sovereign nation and murdering over a million civilians in the process. After all the mess, you Americans give each other a warm pat on the back and say: at least we have free press to expose our evil ways. Them in China don't.
Bravo Americans!

[bandw]

I am not offended by Tim taking a jab at China in this Taiwan matter. China today looks a lot like Taiwan in the 1970s and early 80s. Authoritarian and business-friendly. That's why over 1 millions Taiwanese have no problem living in the mainland.

This sort of political environment is all too familiar too them. I think large number of South Koreans currently living in Beijing,Qingdao and other cities feels the same way too. They've all seen it before. In fact the economic growth rates following Taiwan's political liberalization in the late 1980s have dropped quite a bit . Democracy might be good for political accountability but not necessarily good for economic prosperity of a country. I like political accountability and hope China will get to where Taiwan is now. It will take time. Chinese people will find a way to get there.

[DJ]

Tim,

I wonder if you belong to the Foreign Correspondents Club of China, which recently issued a protest against the Chinese government for alleged acts of demonizing the western media.

Well, such complaint is clearly misplaced. The last line of your report is so typical of most of western reporters, in or out of China, that finds any and every opportunities, however remote they might be, to bash China.

You don't need to be demonized. You are the demon.

[Crian Padayachee]

Great point Tim, and what you said is the Fact, foreign media are followed around in China these days to make sure they don't stumble into any of the chamber of horror's that China has. At least Western Media can find that out for free as with CNN's tour of Gitmo the other day.

[chanps]

Free press..only thing free is in the blogs...embedded journalist with US troop in Iraq..free? Aljazeera reported negative news on US troops..Donald Rumsfield wanted blood and they got it for him..Aljazeera journalists targetted and killed...free? highest number of journalist killed by US forces..free? with all their high tech, state of the art equipment they MISTAKENLY bombed the newsroom of the Chinese Embassy..Free? aljazeera journalist jailed for 6 years without charge..free? and instead of offering an apology, the State Dept accused the journalist of faking injury after his release..what do they expect..after 6 years of torture, they want a pat on their back for making the world safer in jailing this journalist..BTW I am still waiting for one of the reputed western media to run a feature story on him...so much for free press..

[Janman]

shenqh wrote, "During Regan administration, USA secretely used the money from weapon sale to Iran and transferred the money to fund the rebels in Nicaragua. It is a very common practice".

Not surprised that the world polled that U.S is no longer trusted to lead the world. The West particularly U.S. has been losing all credibility based on the lies they spewed and the behavior they have showed to the rest of the world. Will they become the pariah of the nations in time to come. There is no denial that they will and they can.

[chanps]

Tim,
Still I am grateful for you and your friends who risk your lives daily in some of the worst places on earth to bring us the news, so that I, the common man, in the comfort of my home get informed and can put in my 2 cents worth.