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Taiwan probes
‘stealth’ boat’s missing computer
SO STEALTHY IT’S GONE: If the top-secret
computer fell into the hands of a Chinese spy, it could compromise a number of
communications codes and some missile data
By Rich Chang / Staff reporter, with AFP
A man in Taipei yesterday uses a
laptop of the same make as a top-secret laptop that went missing from a missile
boat recently.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday
said it was looking into how a top-secret computer from a “stealth” warship went
missing, amid concerns it might have fallen into Chinese hands.
The laptop, installed on board a Kuang Hua VI (KH-6)-class guided-missile
vessel, disappeared late last month while the vessel was anchored at Zuoying
(左營) in Greater Kaohsiung, the nation’s largest naval base, the military said.
After an initial investigation, the navy was unable to account for how the
computer had gone missing.
“We admit that the navy exhibited some flaws in the control of personnel at the
base,” a naval spokesman said, adding that military prosecutors had taken over
the investigation of the case.
The laptop had been installed aboard the vessel for a six-month period, during
which the ship’s crew carried out tests of confidential communications equipment
and procedures.
Military spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) told a press conference that the
notebook went missing on May 25.
“If China obtained the laptop, it would get the navy’s highly sensitive
communications code as well as related missile data,” said Erich Shih (施孝瑋), an
editor at the Taipei-based Defence International magazine.
However, Lo said the missing computer would not jeopardize the missile ship’s
warfare capability because no military secrets were on the computer.
Major General Chang Kuan-chun (張冠群), vice head of the military’s Chungshan
Institute of Science and Technology, said the computer was used to conduct
simple communication tests for the missile ship, and was consequently not
equipped with advanced communications software.
The machine did not contain any software related to weapons systems, he said.
Colonel Lin Gau-joe (林高洲), acting general director of the information and
communications research division at the institute, also denied that the device
contained confidential information.
The laptop was only used to test a communications system for the navy and no
classified information was involved, Lin said, adding that the case poses no
threat to national security.
The institute — the defense ministry’s main research and development unit — is
tasked with testing the communications systems on the Kuang Hua missile boats.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that Minister of National Defense Kao
Hua-chu (高華柱) was angered by the incident and ordered stiff punishments to be
handed down after the investigation.
The boats are all equipped with “stealth technology,” enabling them to reduce
their exposure to radar detection, the navy said.
The missile boats are each armed with four locally developed Hsiung Feng II
anti-ship missiles, which have a range of 150km. A total of 31 KH-6s, split into
three squadrons, have entered service since 2010.
Additional reporting by CNA
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