Taiwan Wants $520M in Frozen Frigate Corruption Funds Returned

Kang Ding w. SH-60(click to view all) Our November 2005 article “Full Steam Ahead for Taiwan Frigate Corruption Investigation” explained the scandal’s background, and noted the beginnings of Swiss cooperation via the unsealing of bank files. The controversy swirls around Taiwan’s $2.8 billion procurement of 6 Kang Ding Class multi-role stealth frigates from France in 1991. These ships are derivative of the Lafayette Class, which has been used as the base platform for several nations’ frigate designs – but note the many critical weaknesses detailed in this GlobalSecurity.org article due to technologies not transferred to Taiwan. So what’s the scandal? And is there really a murder involved? Yes, there is. The scandal is described in brief below, and Swiss authorities have just handed $34 million back – with conditions attached. The Scandal In brief, Taiwanese authorities allege that state-owned Elf Aquitaine paid bribes through French firm, Thomson-CSF (now Thales), to persuade French and Taiwanese authorities to approve the sale of the warships. Investigations reportedly began after Taiwanese authorities concluded from the inflated price that the deal constituted a serious case of international corruption. Naval Captain Yin Ching-feng, who is believed to have been ready to blow the whistle on the […]